Debates of May 24th, 2024

Official Languages

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

For the third time, the hon. member for Manicouagan.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have all weekend.

The Liberal calvary was out in full force yesterday to save the president of the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, or APF. In what was basically an unprecedented situation, interpreters were needed at the meeting because many of the new members do not understand French.

We know the result. The president of the APF kept his position, despite the hurtful, scatological comments he made.

Does anyone in this government seriously think that this is helping the APF's credibility or that this incident has helped the French community here or elsewhere?

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

Mr. Speaker, this unrelenting attack on a representative of Canada's francophonie brings dishonour to the Bloc Québécois.

People comment quite often that when the time comes to decide whether or not to support people who stand up for Canada's francophonie, the Bloc Québécois is strangely absent from the debate.

We are proud of our colleague. His presidency of the international Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie brings honour to us, and we are very eager to support him further.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when the Bloc Québécois defends all francophones against violence, insult and injury, I believe it is working on behalf of all of La Francophonie.

Here are some of this morning's headlines: “Confidence vote: [APF president] saved by the Liberal cavalry”; “Full of s***”; “[The member] stays on as APF president”.

That is what the Liberals' stunt has led to. Gross insults against witnesses can be overlooked because Liberals stand together. Standing together as Liberals means not standing together with La Francophonie.

Does the government realize that all it has accomplished is to weaken and perhaps even prevent a parliamentary assembly from working—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

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

Mr. Speaker, what weakens the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie, or APF, is not the fact that more members have joined. It is the fact that the Bloc Québécois is going after a member who took responsibility for what he said, apologized many times and now continues to stand up for francophones across Canada and to honour us by being president of this international organization that is getting ready to soon welcome the world.

We will all stand behind the president of the APF as he carries out his duties.

Northern Affairs

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Uqaqtittiji, water is life, and access to safe drinking water is a human right. In Nunavut, only eight out of 25 water treatment facilities pass their health and safety tests. The result is a very real possibility of unsafe drinking water for the people of Nunavut. Liberals have neglected to provide healthy drinking water for indigenous communities.

Will the Liberals act urgently to provide the funding that ensures Nunavut communities have clean, safe drinking water now?

[Jenica Atwin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, we know that it is unacceptable to have any communities without access to clean drinking water in this country. We have worked really hard, for the first time in our government's history, to put forward record investments around this.

Right now, there are 28 existing long-term drinking water advisories, and we have a project under way for every single one of them. We have already lifted 144 long-term drinking water advisories since 2015. About 96% of first nations still have access to their clean water, and we are going to make sure that it stays that way.

Particularly, for the north, where there are ongoing challenges specific to that region, we are going to make sure we work with them to find an indigenous-led, Inuit-led solution to this problem.

Canada Border Services Agency

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, more than 9,000 border workers have voted for a strike mandate. The Liberals keep asking more of these workers, like cracking down on stolen cars being smuggled out of Canada, but will not give them the resources they need. Our CBSA workers deserve better. They deserve a pension, better working conditions and respect. Canadians depend on these workers to keep them safe, but the Liberals are turning their backs on them.

Will the Liberals admit that, by failing to provide a fair retirement to these workers, they are setting the stage for unnecessary disruptions this summer?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, our government is definitely committed to reaching agreements with all of our different public service unions that are both fair to the employees and reasonable to taxpayers.

We have already reached agreements with 17 different bargaining units that cover over 80% of represented employees. The best deals are found at the table. We urge the union to come to the table. We are happy to negotiate with them.

Finance

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the superintendent of financial institutions released his annual risk outlook yesterday. It is now a warning from its own regulator for the Liberal-NDP government to heed. Canadian homeowners who renew their mortgages over the next two years could face a payment shock. The root cause of this spike in payments is the government's loose spending policies. Large deficits have driven inflation, which have increased mortgage costs.

With all these warnings, will the Minister of Finance take a lesson and reverse her inflationary spending policies?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, let us take note that the Parliamentary Budget Officer, just this week, described Canada's fiscal position as top of class, and so did the International Monetary Fund when describing Canada's growth in 2025.

We are also, I remind the Conservatives, rated number one in the world with a AAA credit rating, which has been reaffirmed by independent credit agencies. When it comes to combatting inflation, the Governor of the Bank of Canada says we are on the right track.

Let me ask the Conservatives this. Does the Conservative leader intend to fire all the independent experts in the world who disagree with his doomsday narrative?

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is avoiding every touchpoint the member does not want to pay attention to, including from his own regulator.

Let us look at the follow-on risks that OSFI identified: stress in the mortgage insurance industry, investment portfolio risk, asset management risk and insurance risk. All are rising. This house of cards does not end well. It is obvious to the regulator, and to all Canadians, that after nine years of failed economic policies, the government is just not worth the cost.

Can we see a redo on last month's disastrous budget that will bring back the fiscal balance Canadians desperately need?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, at any point in time, a democracy is bound to face risk, particularly in the difficult economic environment that we face domestically and internationally. To echo my colleague who just spoke on this side, a AAA credit rating was affirmed recently by Moody's, which said we have the best fiscal record in the G7 and the lowest debt and deficit in the G7. Those are foundation points that will carry us through difficult times.

It is a hard time for Canadians. The member talks about the Canadians who want to renew their mortgages. Where were the Conservatives over the years? We wanted to support Canadians. They were never there.

Housing

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in 2020, the Prime Minister's own bank governor said interest rates are very low and they are going to be low for a long time. This week, OSFI reported that mortgage holders will face a payment shock because of high interest rates. They said the shock will be the worst for those who took low mortgage rates in 2020. Words matter.

After nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister misleading Canadians, will he finally admit he is not worth the cost to homeowners?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, it was great to have the independent Governor of the Bank of Canada attend the finance committee recently. When he was at committee, he said, “The budget does respect the fiscal guardrails that the government put in place,” and that “Keeping the debt-to-GDP ratio on a declining track and importantly keeping deficits below one per cent of GDP in future years, the budget also commits to those guardrails going forward and that is helpful.”

Those are the exact words of the independent Bank of Canada governor. I wonder if this is why the Conservative leader wants to fire the independent—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley.

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, also in 2020, the Prime Minister said, “Interest rates are at historic lows Glen.” Millions of people took out low-interest mortgages. Tuesday, his own bank regulators reported that homeowners renewing mortgages will now face a payment shock because of the high mortgage rates they got in 2020, increasing the risk of default.

After nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister misleading Canadians, will he finally admit he is not worth the cost to people who are losing their homes?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada is proud of having one of the most stable and flexible financial institutions and financial markets in the world. It is also true that Canada's fiscal position is a particularly strong one.

What would put that all at risk? The banana republic promise of the Leader of the Opposition to fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada, sending shockwaves to global markets and exposing homeowners, mortgage holders, to intense interest rate risk.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, more Canadians are now going hungry and homeless.

The latest annual risk outlook from OSFI highlights that 76% of mortgages will come up for renewal by the end of 2026. Now, the Prime Minister's high mortgage rates are creating misery for Canadian homeowners. Again, the Liberal government's own bank regulators are flashing red stop signs. The Bank of Canada governor has said that out-of-control federal spending is not helpful.

How much more mortgage payment pain will Canadian families have to face and endure to satisfy the NDP-Liberal government's big government spending?

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

Mr. Speaker, that member should know better than to stand up and talk about financial markets, when his own leader is the person that has promised to send tremors into the international financial system by taking over, like some dictator, the operations of the Bank of Canada and arbitrarily firing the governor, who is, of course, watching inflation very carefully.

I know the member will have noticed that inflation, for the fourth straight month, is down to the Bank of Canada's target range. We want to continue getting that inflation number down.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that overheated and over-the-top rhetoric is cold comfort to homeowners who are facing hundreds of dollars per month of increased mortgage costs because of the Liberal government's decisions during the pandemic.

The Liberals doubled the national debt and increased spending by $600 billion over that time period, which led to higher mortgage interest costs at the same time that the Prime Minister was saying that interest rates would never go up, that they were so low and they would continue. Mortgage holders listened to the Prime Minister. They took out more mortgages and now they are facing higher mortgage rates, rates so punishing they will have a hard time paying.

When is the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister going to learn his lesson? Is he going to give homeowners a break on these mortgage rates?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I would take the member seriously, were it not for the Conservative record.

Those same mortgage holders, in years past, benefited from a tax cut to the middle class that the Liberal government introduced. They benefited from the Canada child benefit. They are benefiting now from the child care program the government has introduced; dental care, where they are eligible; and pharmacare.

All those measures that benefit middle-income Canadians and lower-income Canadians working hard to join the middle class are measures that the Conservatives did not support at all, and they want to fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada. That is irresponsible. They never answered the question on that.

Climate Change

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, climate change is threatening the St. Lawrence River. That is what federal government scientists disclosed on Wednesday.

Water temperatures are reaching record levels, as much as five degrees above average. Oxygen levels are decreasing. As a result, species such as shrimp are in serious decline. The economy and biodiversity of our regions are at risk. Meanwhile, as scientists sound the alarm, the federal government is opening a new pipeline in western Canada to encourage dependence on dirty oil. All of this while we are in the midst of a climate crisis.

When will the Liberals starting listening to science?