Debates of April 29th, 2024

Canada Border Services Agency

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, my Quebec Liberal caucus colleagues and I share the member's concern about the importance of the Port of Valleyfield. I intend to raise these important questions with the CBSA. We understand how important the port is for residents and for the region's economy.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2019, through the building Canada fund, the federal government announced more than $12 million in funding for the Port of Valleyfield to expand a wharf. Today, however, the Canada Border Services Agency is withdrawing from the Port of Valleyfield. One minute the federal government is funding the expansion of the port, the next it is hindering its development.

What is the rationale behind this reckless and harmful decision? Will the minister help me get the Canada Border Services Agency to reconsider its decision?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, when there is a change of ownership and things do not automatically follow, applications have to be remade. Nothing is automatic. Having said that, we understand the importance of the Port of Valleyfield. My colleague mentioned it. We will work on this.

The Budget

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, never in our country's glorious history have we had such a free-spending government. This is a $500‑billion budget. The Liberal Party voted in favour of it. Who else voted in favour of this $500-billion budget? The Bloc Québécois.

The Bloc Québécois is the reason this government is able to spend so extravagantly. The Bloc Québécois is the reason this government is so big, so centralist and so spendy.

Will any Liberal ministers stand up in support of the Bloc Québécois's position?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government understands how important it is to invest in Canadians and Quebeckers.

That is what we are doing, and we are doing it in a fiscally responsible way. We have a AAA credit rating. The Governor of the Bank of Canada said, “The budget does respect the fiscal guardrails that the government put in place.... [T]he budget also commits to those guardrails going forward”.

That is what we are doing.

Automotive Industry

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberals are spending $52 billion of taxpayer money to subsidize international auto companies. The Building Trades Unions recently condemned the use of foreign replacement workers at the Stellantis plants for jobs like forklift driver, yet contrary to Liberal claims, foreign replacement workers keep being brought in for jobs that do not require specialty knowledge. The union calls that a slap in the face, and we agree.

After nine years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. How much will Canadian taxpayers pay to employ foreign replacement workers?

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

Mr. Speaker, instead of spreading disinformation, the member should be standing with all Canadians in this House and making sure that we maximize jobs for Canadians. That is exactly what we are doing.

The investment that he is talking about is going to create more than 2,500 direct jobs at this plant. It is going to be one of the largest battery assembly plants in North America. We should all be proud that Canada now ranks first in the world for the battery ecosystem we have built, and this is according to Bloomberg.

We are going to keep investing in Canadians. We are going to keep investing in jobs. We are going to keep investing in the auto industry.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Liberal minister who is spreading disinformation, because in committee he admitted he had not read the contracts. I have read both, Stellantis and VW. Do members know what is not in them? What is not in them is any requirement that jobs at these plants be for Canadians only. Canadians do not believe the Prime Minister, and since I have read the contracts, I do not either.

The NDP-Liberals are hiding the truth. If the Prime Minister has contractual job guarantees, he will have no problem proving me wrong. Will the Liberals release the contracts, yes or no?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is amazing that the member would be against creating jobs in this country and maximizing jobs. If he read the contract, I guess he should have a lawyer to understand the terms, because it is very simple. The terms are maximizing Canadian jobs. It gives me an opportunity. We should rejoice. Just last week, we announced and we supported the largest investment in the auto sector in Canada's history. Honda is going to be investing $15.7 billion in this country.

We are attracting record investment. We are going to create jobs. We are going to fight for every Canadian job.

Public Safety

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this government's policies have been focused on promoting diversity, respect and equality among all Canadians.

On that side of the House, however, we learned last week that the Leader of the Opposition visited an encampment set up by individuals linked to extreme far-right groups like Diagolon. CSIS says Diagolon encourages and inspires serious violence, yet the Conservative leader is refusing to denounce it or apologize for engaging with it.

Can the government please reiterate how we will keep Canadians safe from extreme groups and what our responsibilities are as political leaders?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, while we can appreciate different views and political opinions, what we cannot and should not tolerate is any member of the House indulging and actively courting extremist far-right groups that espouse anti-Semitic, anti-2SLGBTQI+ and white nationalist ideologies. The Conservative leader's embrace of and refusal to denounce Diagolon in this—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, I am having great difficulty trying to hear the answer from the hon. minister. I am going to ask members to please let the minister finish his statement. The minister has 20 seconds left on the clock.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader's embrace of and refusal to denounce Diagolon is incredibly alarming. That he would do anything to win speaks volumes about his values and, quite frankly, is sending chills across this country.

On this side, we will always defend Canadians and Canadian values.

Housing

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, young Canadians know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Eight in 10 people now regard home ownership as being only for the rich, as they have completely given up on their dream of ever owning a home.

Simply, will the government finally listen to Canadians and to our common-sense plan to cap spending, which would bring down inflation and interest rates so that young people can finally afford a home?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I will agree, insofar as the Conservatives believe that it is essential that we do more to make sure that young people can get into the housing market.

However, the difference between our side and theirs is that they do not have a plan to achieve that reality. The measures they are putting forward include measures that would raise taxes on home building, making it more difficult to build homes in communities, and actually cut funding for programs that are supporting home building today.

We have new measures to create tax-free opportunities for young people to save up for a down payment, new measures that would help young people establish a credit score, and new measures that would reduce their monthly mortgage costs. We will do what it takes to solve the housing crisis. I wish the Conservatives would join us.

Public Safety

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the Prime Minister, car theft in Canada is completely out of control. Two out of five Canadians have either had their car stolen or know someone who has.

Last week in Victoria, a repeat offender was arrested three times in three days for stealing cars. The police in Victoria had to put out a statement and they laid the blame for this on the Liberals' failed bill, Bill C-75.

Will the justice minister listen to the police and reverse their soft-on-crime Bill C-75?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for that member. He is my critic and he has served on the justice committee with me for a number of years. What I do not have respect for are the instructions he gets from his leader on how to vote.

When we had legislation in the chamber, the fall economic statement, that dealt with tackling money laundering and organized crime links to auto theft, he was instructed to vote against that. Before even reading the document that is budget 2024 and what it contains with respect to addressing auto theft, increasing maximum penalties, dealing with the link between using youth and organized criminality and tackling more money laundering, he was told to vote against, yet again, by his leader.

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the justice minister's own vehicle was stolen three times in the last three years. The Liberals are not fixing the problem. Conservatives have a private member's bill in the House right now that establishes serious jail time for repeat car thefts.

This individual in Victoria was arrested three times in three days. He pushed a woman out of her car to steal her vehicle. He drove off and caused a collision.

It is time that we crack down on repeat violent auto theft. Conservatives will do it.

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

Mr. Speaker, that member knows that repeat violent offenders are already dealt with by our bail regime. He voted in favour of that. He should also know that when Bill C-75, the very bill—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask members to please allow the minister to finish answering the question.

The hon. minister from the top.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that member knows and should know that the bail reform bill, which the member actually voted in favour of, tackles serious violent repeat offenders, which include those who use serious violence in committing an auto theft.

What the member should also realize is that when the very bill he impugned, Bill C-75, was before this chamber in the 42nd Parliament, we promoted an augmentation, an increase in the penalty available for auto theft. He and all of his colleagues voted against that.

What I would prefer is some collaboration and a bit less hypocrisy.

Housing

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, our government is making historic efforts to solve Canada's housing crisis. Not only do we need to build more homes, we need to build them faster and Canada must change the way we build those homes.

Could the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities tell the House and Canadians about the new measures introduced to solve Canada's housing crisis?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her advocacy for housing supports, particularly for the most vulnerable across the city of Halifax.

I am pleased to share that we have put forward a plan to solve Canada's national housing crisis. It includes new measures that will help make it easier to build more homes by reducing the cost and eliminating barriers, including freeing up more public land. It includes more measures to help young people save up for a down payment and to reduce their mortgage costs. It also includes measures to support those who cannot afford to have a roof over their head, including a recent investment of $11 million to build more housing for persons with disabilities and seniors.

We are going to continue to make investments to solve Canada's housing crisis.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, last week, B.C. police chiefs told us that it was deadly street drugs laced with fentanyl that were killing thousands, not the diversion of safer supply. They clearly have advised that preventing people from using drugs in public and preventing toxic drug deaths requires more, not fewer, safe consumption sites. B.C. has listened to the police call for more tools to deal with public use of illicit substances.

When will the Liberals ignore Conservative disinformation, recall the expert task force and formulate a comprehensive plan to end the toxic drug crisis?