Debates of May 22nd, 2024

Carbon Pricing

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in the Leader of the Opposition's desire to make clever rhetorical points, he actually completely ignores the basic facts.

The price on pollution is revenue-neutral for the federal government, which means that the money that comes in for the price on pollution, for the carbon tax, gets returned to the jurisdictions. That is why the Parliamentary Budget Officer found that eight out of 10 Canadian families in jurisdictions where the carbon price applies do better with the Canada carbon rebate, which comes in four times a year, than the price on pollution costs them. That is a plan to fight climate change and put money in people's pockets.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry to be too clever for the Prime Minister, but he is the one who made the argument that high taxes would stop forest fires, and now he cannot tell us how high the tax would go to put all the fires out. He went on, now, to say that his tax is revenue neutral. One does not have to be too clever to read the government's own published documents, which show that he has collected $2 billion more in taxes than he has given back in rebates. That is why 100% of middle-class Canadians pay more than they get back.

Once again, will he tell those middle-class people how high the tax would have to go for the fires to stop?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what we just saw is climate denialism at its finest. The fact is that, as global emissions rise, as carbon intensity in the atmosphere increases, extreme weather events like wildfires, droughts and floods will simply become more and more frequent. His plan is to do nothing and let future generations fend for themselves. Our plan is not only to reduce our emissions but to create the solutions that the world needs while we lead on fighting climate change, bringing down emissions and growing the economy.

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, a brand new study by the Office québécois de la langue française shows that the proportion of young Quebeckers who use French as their language of work 90% of the time has dropped from 64% to 58%.

Will the Prime Minister admit that his language policies are not slowing the decline of French one bit, and that his opposition to Bill 96 is weakening the French language, or will he in turn start hurling vicious and vulgar insults at Quebec scientists?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are the first federal government to acknowledge our special responsibility to protect the French language in Quebec.

We are concerned about the decline of French seen across the country, including in Quebec. That is why we are there to invest, to partner with the Government of Quebec and to protect the French fact in Quebec and official languages across the country.

We will continue to be there to defend the French language, not for political purposes, like the Bloc Québécois, but because it is the right thing to do for our country and for our future.

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

Mr. Speaker, one day we will have our own country and our own future.

The Liberals have admitted responsibility but their actions go against that responsibility. They sent money to the anglophone community in Quebec so it could protect itself, of course, from being assimilated by francophones.

If the Prime Minister is so concerned about Quebec, can he stop opposing the Quebec government's Bill 96 and let Quebec govern its own language laws?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Official Languages Act protects linguistic minorities right across the country. A big part of that, of course, is protecting francophone minorities everywhere outside Quebec. It also includes our responsibility to protect both official languages in a bilingual country and to protect all linguistic minorities. We will continue to do so. That does not prevent us from doing everything we can to protect the French language.

It is not the anglophone minority in Quebec that poses a threat to the French language in Quebec. We will continue to fight to protect French everywhere in Quebec and right across the country.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we know that, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled. Today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a damning report that showed that after the Prime Minister promised he would eliminate chronic homelessness, it has actually gone up 38%. The number of people living in unsheltered locations is up 88%. This is after he spent half a billion dollars on homelessness programs.

If it costs half a billion dollars for him to drive up homelessness, how much would it cost to drive it down?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, whether it was the pandemic, whether it was global inflation, whether it was international economic situations, we have seen more and more Canadians suffering, including from the opioid and toxic drug epidemic that the Leader of the Opposition continues to attack and vilify.

The reality is that we have invested billions in countering homelessness. We are going to continue to invest in eliminating encampments and supporting Canadians in communities and in vulnerable communities across the country. The Leader of the Opposition's solution is to do less to fight homelessness, to invest less in vulnerable people. That is what he is doing when he votes against our current budget.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister brags about his billions in spending. People cannot live in “billions”. They live in homes, and his billions build bureaucracies that block those homes. In 2015, there were 284 homeless people in Halifax. Now, there are 1,211. There are over 30 homeless encampments in Halifax alone. Ten years ago, there were 3,000 Quebeckers who were homeless. Now there are 10,000.

Why is it that the more he spends, the worse things get?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government has chosen to invest to support Canadians through difficult times. We saw it through the pandemic where we stepped up to put money in Canadians' pockets, money in community organizations, money in businesses and restaurants, in mom-and-pop shops right across the country. We came out of it stronger economically. We restored full employment faster than the United States.

We know that investing when people need supports is the right way to build for the future. Confident countries invest in themselves. What the Leader of the Opposition is proposing is austerity and cuts to programs at exactly the time that Canadians need them.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are already experiencing austerity, according to a report by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who showed that since the Prime Minister's promise to end homelessness, it has in fact increased by 38%. The number of homeless people in Quebec has increased, going from 3,000 to 10,000. Yes, it is true, he is spending a lot more money and that is making everything more expensive.

When will he realize that a morbidly obese government in Ottawa is never going to end homelessness?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, no one in this country thinks that a Conservative government that does nothing but offer cuts and austerity is going to help address the homelessness crisis in the country. That is not how it works. It takes investment in affordable housing. It takes investment in programs to support the people who are homeless. It takes investment in programs that are rooted in compassion and backed by data to deal with addictions. Those are the investments that are needed. He is proposing nothing but cuts and austerity while Canadians are suffering. We are here to invest in vulnerable communities.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, three devastating reports in one day demonstrate the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost. First, we had Food Banks Canada and the Salvation Army that said that record numbers are forced to go to food banks and that over half of people are worse off than they were a year ago. Now the PBO says there is more homelessness. There is more homelessness and hunger.

The Prime Minister has three explanations: One, he can blame the rest of the world for his mistakes; two, he can promise more of the spending that caused the problem or; three, he can own up and admit that he caused the misery Canadians are living.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservative leader likes to go around saying Canada is broken, we choose instead to invest in Canadians, invest in supporting food banks, invest in community organizations that are on the front lines supporting vulnerable Canadians and invest in the kinds of programs that are lifting Canadians up, like the two million vulnerable seniors who are now accessing health care and dental care for the first time.

One hundred thousand people in just 22 days got dental care despite the Conservative Party, which has consistently voted against it and, indeed, tried to block it both in this House and across the country. We will continue to be there for Canadians.

Foreign Affairs

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Ireland, Spain and Norway announced that they will soon recognize the state of Palestine. This is a crucial step towards peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis, but Canada is missing in action. In February, New Democrats asked the government to recognize the state of Palestine. The government refused and turned its back on Palestinians and Israelis who are looking for peace and justice in their region.

The Prime Minister can take a stand today. Will he join the consensus of the international community and recognize the state of Palestine?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we urgently need to build a credible path toward lasting peace. We oppose efforts by the Netanyahu government to reject a two-state solution. At the same time, Hamas, a terrorist group, currently controls areas in Gaza and has not laid down its arms or released its hostages. We are prepared to recognize the state of Palestine at the right time, not necessarily as a last step along the path. We were pleased to be able to support the NDP motion of a number of months ago. We will continue to work on promoting peace and work toward stability in the Middle East.

Northern Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, last week, I met with the Tumikuluit Saipaaqivik day care in Iqaluit, a day care that provides culturally appropriate care in Inuktitut. Because of a lack of funding, it is on the verge of closing.

In 2022, the Liberals promised millions of dollars to Nunavut day care. The funding is taking too long to make its way to Tumikuluit Saipaaqivik day care. Will the Liberals ensure Tumikuluit does not fall through the cracks and get the urgent funding it needs to stay open?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, investing in early learning and child care right across the country that is affordable, that is high quality and that is available for families is one of the cornerstones of this government's policy of the past few years. We have worked closely with provinces and territories to make sure that money is delivered on the ground where it is needed the most. I will follow up on this particular case and make sure that the Government of Nunavut is passing through the money and is accessing all the funds necessary so that child care in the north, and indeed right across the country, continues to be delivered as the social program and economic program that it is.

Women and Gender Equality

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as a family doctor who delivered close to 500 babies, I am concerned about access to reproductive choice. Claiming to support reproductive choice is not enough. We must pass legislation that makes it fully accessible to all. The pharmacare act is a start. It would provide free contraception to over nine million patients. Unfortunately, our Conservative colleagues oppose it. They also oppose access to safe abortion. Will the Prime Minister reaffirm his government's promise to defend a woman's reproductive rights in spite of the opposition's efforts to deny it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Vancouver Centre for her decades of leadership. We will always support a woman's right to access reproductive health care, both in our words and in our policy. The Leader of the Opposition pretends to be pro-choice, but supports his Conservative caucus members tabling anti-abortion legislation. He cannot have it both ways. If the opposition leader truly believed in the right to choose, he would condemn any effort to restrict reproductive choice and freedom, including from within his own caucus.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled because of his inflationary spending and because the bureaucracy he is funding is blocking construction.

In today's edition of Le Soleil, we learned that, since mid-May, panic has been starting to set in for those who have not yet found a place to live. One worker has warned that a large number of people may be forced to camp outside.

After doubling the cost of housing, is the Prime Minister's plan to provide tents for those who will be forced to camp outside?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity to talk about our plan, which ensures fairness for every generation.

Our housing plan will build 3.87 million new housing units across the country by cutting red tape, reforming zoning, lowering construction costs and using public lands and vacant government offices.

We are going to put the dream of home ownership back within reach of young Canadians by helping them to save up, tax-free, for a down payment and by allowing renters to use their monthly payment history when they apply for a mortgage. We will help those who are struggling to afford housing and put and end to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister's inflationary and centralizing spending caused the inflation that is hurting Canadians. That is no surprise.

The surprising thing is that the Bloc Québécois voted for $500 billion of that spending. These budget appropriations are not going to health care or to seniors, since those expenditures are already set out in legislation. No, that money is being spent on bureaucracy, or to double up on payments to consultants, as in the arrive scam case.

Does the Liberal Party realize that more money for the federal level means less money for Quebeckers?