Debates of April 18th, 2024

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as the chair of the science and research committee and the member for Guelph, I am really excited about the investments in science in the recent budget. Researchers and scientists across Canada have a vital role in developing innovation and knowledge.

Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry highlight the important investments our government is making in our science and research space that would support students and generations of researchers to come?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to first thank my colleague for his leadership on research and science.

Our budget has shown that we have a vision and ambition for science and research in this country because, on this side of the House, we know that the science of today is the economy of tomorrow. We have announced historic investments in infrastructure because we want to make sure we will have state-of-the-art facilities for our researchers in this country. More importantly, we have made a historic investment in grants to support our researchers, young students and the next generation. With our investments, we know that science in this country will continue to make sure we have prosperity for generations to come.

Public Services and Procurement

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Kristian Firth of GC Strategies confirmed his home was raided by the RCMP. GC Strategies proposed a contract to the Deputy Prime Minister's former chief of staff and current Liberal campaign director Jeremy Broadhurst. This contract led to Tuesday's raid on Kristian Firth's home.

Can the Deputy Prime Minister confirm her communication on a contract proposal that led to an RCMP raid?

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

Mr. Speaker, as our colleague from public safety has made clear repeatedly over the last few minutes, this is a matter under investigation, both internally and by the RCMP. It would be totally inappropriate for politicians anywhere in the House to try to pretend they would be better than others and the RCMP to do that type of work.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member what is inappropriate. The ArriveCAN app is under RCMP investigation, but we now know that there are two RCMP investigations connected to GC Strategies. The raid on Kristian Firth's house two days ago raises more concerns about both contracts, one of which we now know has a connection to the Deputy Prime Minister's office.

After nine years, GC Strategies has been paid more than $100 million by the Liberal government. Will the Deputy Prime Minister co-operate with the RCMP investigation?

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

Mr. Speaker, I already answered that question once today. I am delighted to answer it again.

The member knows full well that internal investigations into this matter have been under way for some time. She also knows that the Auditor General's report is now known and that important measures have been put in place as a result of that report. She also knows that it would be completely inappropriate for politicians in the House to claim they could do a better job or know more about the work of these organizations, especially the RCMP.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's arrive scam led to unprecedented testimony before the House of Commons, which the Liberal House leader tried to shut down, and no wonder. That scam, which the NDP and Liberals voted for, cost taxpayers at least $60 million. Parliament ordered the government to pay the money back, but Liberals have not even asked for it to be returned. Now, the RCMP have come knocking.

After nine years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, the corruption or the crime. Will the Prime Minister finally follow the direction of Parliament and get back the arrive scam cash?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows that the government always works collaboratively with Parliament. We have done so in many cases. In fact, parliamentary committees have also looked into this matter, and government officials have been, of course, available to answer all of their questions and provide documents.

As my colleague the Minister of Public Services and Procurement made clear, there are internal audits taking place. The RCMP is also seized with this issue. We think it would be appropriate to allow these investigations to conclude.

I can assure colleagues that the government will always take steps to recuperate taxpayers' money that was inappropriately expended and hold those accountable who have abused taxpayers' money.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government has not cooperated because the House voted to ask for the money to be paid back, and Kristian Firth testified that the government has not taken any steps to seek the return of the money.

After nine years, it is clear that the Prime Minister is presiding over a severely incontinent contracting system where money constantly flows to NDP-Liberal insiders. Canadians need a government that they can depend upon to stop the crime and end the corruption.

Again, will the Prime Minister follow the direction of Parliament and ask the arrive scammers to return the money?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague has just repeated his previous question. I will give him the same answer.

This government always takes the use of taxpayers' money extremely seriously. We have said that, if taxpayers' money has been misplaced or mishandled, of course, the government will ask for that money to be returned and take the appropriate steps to recuperate that money.

My colleague may have taken note of the RCMP's action yesterday. In the case of individuals who have abused taxpayers' money, of course the RCMP will take the steps necessary to investigate these matters.

The Budget

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal budget does not just mark the end of respect for jurisdictions. It also marks the end of competent policy management.

Ottawa is imposing its priorities everywhere, without even knowing whether that is a good idea. It is calling for the construction of 40-storey apartment buildings next to schools in neighbourhoods where it has never set foot. It is meddling in the training of construction workers without knowing anything about that. It is imposing long-term care standards for seniors that it has never taken care of.

Why not let the competent people handle the files that fall under their jurisdiction?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois should show a bit of courage and tell us which aspect of the budget they are opposed to.

Are they against investments in housing? Are they against the fact that we are going to make sure that children are not going to school hungry? Are they against investments to help our municipalities and regions? What aspects of the budget are they opposed to? They should at least have the courage to tell us.

For now, they are not saying what they do not like. All they are doing is acting extra friendly. They are playing nice. They do not have the courage to tell us what they are opposed to, but they are still going to vote against the budget.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are against jurisdictional interference. If the Liberals want to be involved in Quebec politics, they should run for the Quebec Liberal Party. Otherwise, there is no shortage of work for them to do at the federal level.

We want them to transfer the housing money now so we can build homes now instead of negotiating until 2025. We want them to get rid of the old age pension's two classes of seniors. We want them to reimburse Quebec for asylum seekers. We want them to reform employment insurance, which they have been promising to do since 2015. We want them to stop the fossil fuel industry from sabotaging the fight against climate change. In short, we want them to do their job. When are they going to do it?

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is a distinguished economist who knows that it is important for everyone to work together to take care of Canadians, including Quebeckers, who are struggling these days. That is why I am sure he will be pleased with the $6 billion invested in Quebec over four years. Quebec is thrilled. The money will help create 35,000 new child care spaces in Quebec.

As an economist, he knows as well as I do that this is a great way to increase family income. It is great for gender equality. It is great for poverty reduction. It is great for our children's development.

All these measures respect jurisdictions; we all contribute in our own way.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, I know we have all heard the horror stories about how bad auto theft has gotten in this country after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government's soft-on-crime policies. Now, we have reports coming out of Toronto that a good Samaritan had pulled over to help somebody in medical distress and, while he was helping them, his car was stolen.

That is how broken this country has become. A car is stolen every six minutes, and violent carjackings are on the rise. Since they are not going to do anything about it, when will the Liberals just get out of the way and let a common-sense Conservative government come in to stop the crime?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend knows that the government takes that very worrisome rise in criminality very seriously. I had a very good conversation last week with my counterpart in Ontario, the solicitor general. We agreed on a series of measures that we can continue to do together with local police forces; the Ontario Provincial Police, which is doing important work in this area; and, of course, the RCMP, which is always a partner with the Canada Border Services Agency around transnational organized crime. We will continue to do everything possible in collaboration with our partners to bring this worrisome trend down.

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

Mr. Speaker, the media are reporting that a Montreal police officer had to open fire at a car thief as he drove the stolen vehicle in the officer's direction.

Car thieves are growing bolder. They have no fear of the justice system. That is why the Conservative leader introduced a common-sense plan last February that includes longer prison sentences for auto thieves.

Will the Prime Minister listen to our calls and crack down on auto theft-related violence?

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

Mr. Speaker, there are two things I would like to point out.

First of all, as soon as Bill C‑75 was introduced in the House two Parliaments ago, the member opposite voted against it, even though it included longer sentences for auto theft.

Now we have a budget. In the budget, we have already announced that we are going to increase the maximum sentences for auto theft. However, the member and his leader have already said that the Conservatives oppose our budget and our efforts to control auto theft.

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

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, I think that the Minister of Justice is forgetting that car thieves and other criminals in Montreal are not afraid because of Bill C‑5 and Bill C‑75, which deal with catch-and-release. They know that there will not be any consequences. If they are arrested, then they will be immediately released. That is what Bill C‑75 does.

Can the Minister of Justice or the Prime Minister answer the question? Will they impose harsher sentences for car thieves so that these individuals are afraid of being arrested and stop stealing cars in Montreal?

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

Mr. Speaker, just to make things very clear for this member's constituents, when Bill C‑75 was before the House, we proposed that the sentence for auto theft be increased from 18 months to two years. This member and all of his colleagues voted against that.

We are not just going to change the Criminal Code in this budget. We are also going to change the sentences for money laundering in the Criminal Code. The member and all of his colleagues have already said that they are going to once again vote against this.

It is a bit difficult to understand where he is coming from on this.

Indigenous Affairs

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, eliminating violence against indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse people is an urgent priority in Canada. Many have been calling for the implementation of a red dress alert to notify the public when an indigenous woman, girl or two-spirit person goes missing.

Could the hon. Minister of Crown–Indigenous Relations update the House on how the government is advancing these efforts?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, the ongoing national crisis must come to an end. No one knows this better than the families of those who have lost their loved ones to this crisis. That is why we are working with indigenous partners in leveraging budget 2024 with an investment of $1.3 million to co-develop a regional red dress alert system.

From housing to indigenous policing, budget 2024 continues to make progress on the systemic change needed to put this crisis to an end once and for all. I want to thank the member for that important question and for her advocacy. We will continue to do this important work with indigenous partners and colleagues across the floor.

Justice

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost or the crime. Today, we learned that thieves who stole $20 million in the biggest gold heist in Canadian history are out on bail. This is because of the Liberal government's shameful Bill C-75, which allows offenders to be in jail in the morning and back on the streets in the evening.

Will the Prime Minister reverse his bail-over-jail policies in Bill C-75?

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

Mr. Speaker, the bill that the Conservative Party loves to discuss in this context includes things such as increased penalties for auto theft, a key criminality issue that is seizing Canadians right now. It is an issue we all need to address.

I find it a bit disturbing and hypocritical that the member and all his colleagues voted against that bill at the time, which would have helped to augment the crimes of people who steal automobiles. The Conservatives have another opportunity, but unfortunately, they have already declared, vis-à-vis the further efforts we are taking to address automobile theft, that they are continuing to vote against it.

Public Safety

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, offenders like Bernardo and Magnotta are living better than many Canadians, with cable, a canteen and a beautiful gym. This is at a time when Canadians are having trouble when it comes to heating, eating and housing. This is breaking news. The correctional officers' union tells us that crime is thriving, not on the streets but in jail, with drones dropping drugs and serious weapons.

When will the Liberal government realize that violent offenders should not have access to these things? Who is running corrections?