Debates of May 28th, 2024

Democratic Institutions

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government has shared more cabinet confidences with various commissions of inquiry than almost any other government in the history of our country.

We know how important it is to show Canadians that they can have confidence in our public service, our intelligence services and our government to counter foreign interference. That is why we have been transparent and open with the commissioner and with all the other commissions. We have to keep being transparent about the work this government is doing.

Indigenous Affairs

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the hospital in Moose Factory was built nearly 70 years ago. The wood roof is caving in. There are no elevators. Patients and staff deserve better.

For two decades, the community of James Bay has been pushing the federal government to build a new hospital. The Liberals promised funding, but in the last budget, there was not a single cent for the hospital. The province and Weeneebayko Area Health Authority are ready to go.

Will the Prime Minister finally fund the new James Bay hospital? Yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, over the past years, we have made historic investments in first nations and indigenous health care right across the country. We recognize there is more to do. We are going to continue to be there as partners to indigenous communities and provincial health authorities to make sure those investments show up for vulnerable Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

We know how much more there is to do on the path to reconciliation, but we are there to be a partner every step of the way, and we will continue to work to respond to the important needs of first nations communities around health care.

Infrastructure

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to break his promise to the community and needs to build that hospital.

Montreal's public transit system is in crisis. The experts are clear: There is not enough money.

The longer this crisis goes on, the more people will lose public transit. This government is doing nothing. The Liberals are turning their backs on Montrealers.

What is the point of having Liberal MPs in Montreal if none of them are fighting for their city?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is pure nonsense. Our government has been there to invest in public transit more than any other government.

As a proud Montreal MP, I can say that our actions in support of the blue line and the REM and of continued investment in public transit in Montreal, Quebec City and across the country are not going to stop.

We set up an infrastructure program to invest in public transit on a permanent and ongoing basis for decades to come. We will continue to be there for Montreal, for Montrealers and for all Quebeckers and Canadians when it comes to public transit.

Housing

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canada's housing crisis is only getting worse. The Liberals claim, in budget 2024, that they are going to build 3.87 million homes by 2031. That would mean a new home completed every 57 seconds, every day. At the housing committee, I asked Richard Lyall, a home-building expert, if this was realistic, and he said not a chance. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing.

Will the Prime Minister stop funding photo ops and start building the homes that Canadians desperately need?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, with the recent housing plan, we have set out to build the number of homes actually required to solve the housing crisis. With respect, it is disappointing in the extreme that Conservatives will not even set a goal that will solve the problem.

What is more interesting is that the member who posed the question has had her community benefit with a $31.5-million investment to build more homes in Kelowna. She is advocating for that money to be taken away from her city and replaced with a program for which Kelowna is ineligible. Most MPs advocate for investments in their community. It is disappointing that my colleague is doing the opposite.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it was announced just this morning that, in fact, housing starts are down in my community and across the country.

In 2015, people could actually afford a home. Nine years of the NDP-Liberal government has only brought us a housing crisis.

The head of the Residential Construction Council of Ontario said that construction is down there. We are seeing this across the entire country. He said that high financing costs and development charges mean homebuilders are sitting at home instead of building homes.

Since the Prime Minister has no meaningful plan, will the Liberals vote for our housing bill put forward by the Conservative opposition leader to build the homes, not bureaucracy?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, if the member argues that housing starts in her community are down, why is her solution to cut funding for housing in her community? It is endemic to the Conservative approach. When we look at the plan that Conservatives have put forward, it includes a tax hike on new apartment construction. It includes cuts to the programs that fund affordable housing, that fund cities to build housing and that allow young people to get into the market for the first time. The cuts are so extreme, even Conservative premiers are crying out, threatening to call snap elections in order to avoid the prospect of Conservative cuts. Cuts will not build homes.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are hungry and homeless. Yesterday, it was confirmed at committee what Conservatives have been saying all along, that the housing minister will never meet his targets.

In Saint John, New Brunswick, the lack of housing options is leaving a family in a leaky, mouldy apartment. Cory Hamilton, the father of four, is worried about the health and safety of his family. Ten new people a week are going homeless in Halifax in the minister's own backyard.

When will the Liberals stop funding photo ops and start building the homes Canadians desperately need?

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

Mr. Speaker, even Conservative premiers recognize the damage these cost-cutting, austerity Conservatives would wreak on our country. The only thing Conservatives know how to do is cut. They want to cut the first home savings account that has allowed more than 750,000 young Canadians to save up for their first home. They want to cut support for the infrastructure that is allowing municipalities to build homes. They want to tear Canada down, but we will not let them.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, all the current federal Liberal government wants to do is blame and pass the buck. That non-answer will do absolutely nothing for the Hamilton family in Saint John who are in desperate need of alternatives for housing.

Since the Prime Minister has no plan and the Liberals have no chance to build the homes tomorrow and all they want to do is continue to build bureaucracy, why do they not give all of their members a chance to vote freely on the Conservative leader's plan for housing? Let us have a free vote on that tomorrow.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is not only Conservative premiers who understand the terrible damage Conservative cuts would do to our country, but Canada's mayors get it too. That is why it was so shameful to hear the progressive mayors of two great Canadian cities, Toronto and Montreal, be vilified by the Conservative leader today.

We believe in working with our municipal partners and our provincial ones. That is how we build Canada.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the cat is out of the bag.

After nine years of inflationary spending, supported by the Bloc Québécois, which has tripled the cost of rent in Montreal, a detailed report in today's edition of La Presse confirms that wait times for construction permits in Montreal are endless. It takes 540 days to get a permit to build a home in the mayor's own borough of Ville-Marie.

Will the Prime Minister stop rewarding bureaucratic bungling and start rewarding municipalities that are accelerating the construction of housing, as the Leader of the Opposition's common-sense bill proposes to do?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the member is unbelievable.

Today, he is asking a question about housing issues, but tomorrow the leader of the Conservative Party plans to introduce a bill that will do away with affordable housing measures, do away with the measures to support communities that build housing and do away with measures that support first-time home buyers.

The Conservative Party's plan is not a good thing for Canadians. It is a disaster.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, do people realize what is happening as a result of the housing minister's measures after nine years? More and more Quebeckers are living in tents in Montreal because of the incompetence of this minister and the Prime Minister.

Will the Prime Minister accept our plan so that Canada and Quebec can reach a common-sense agreement to encourage housing construction in Montreal? This agreement will give bonuses to the municipalities that are competent and penalize the municipalities that do not build housing.

Will the Prime Minister at least allow a free vote for his MPs to support a bill to build homes, not bureaucracy?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member is talking about building housing. Do members know how many homes the Conservative leader built when he was the minister responsible for housing? It was not 10 units. It was not nine units. It was not eight or seven units. The Conservative leader built six affordable housing units across the country during his entire term as the minister responsible for housing. Municipalities in Quebec are currently building 8,000 affordable housing units with the support of the Canadian government.

Let us compare the 8,000 housing units being built in Quebec's so-called incompetent municipalities with the six housing units built by the Conservative leader.

Official Languages

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the report from the Office québécois de la langue française. When it comes to upholding the right to work in French, the federal public service ranks dead last across all economic sectors.

We asked the Commissioner of Official Languages about this yesterday. He noted that the number of complaints related to language of work has gone up, not down. In fact, the national capital region has the highest number of complaints in the entire federal government.

When will the Liberals end their federal public service's drive to anglicize everything?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, that is not at all true.

We know that a more bilingual public service is what will best meet the needs of Canadians. Receiving government services in either official language is a fundamental right.

We continue to protect and promote the French language. We are determined to foster a work environment that is conducive to the use of French and English.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, why is the federal government Quebec's worst employer when it comes to French? It is because the Liberals lack political will.

By overhauling the Official Languages Act, the Liberals were supposed to impose a regulatory framework that ensured equality between French and English in federal institutions. We are still waiting. The Commissioner of Official Languages said that there needs to be a renewed commitment, and that starts with leadership from ministers.

When will we see a regulatory framework and political will from ministers?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am also speaking with the commissioner. I have held discussions with him, with everyone in our government and in our country to tell them that, as President of the Treasury Board, I am committed to implementing parts IV, V and VI of the Official Languages Act in federal institutions. It is very important work.

As I said, we are committed to fostering a work environment conducive to the use of English and French in the public service.

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we will not be lectured to by the party opposite. We know the Liberals. They keep saying that we need to protect the French language, when in fact the federal government is the worst employer in Quebec as far as the use of French in the workplace goes.

Are the Liberals tightening the screws on their own administration to make that stop? No. Are they making regulations to mandate equal status for English and French in federal institutions? No. Are they setting an example by requiring proficiency in French from their own appointees, like the Governor General? No. The bad example is coming from the top.

Would the government agree that, as the old saying goes, a fish rots from the head down?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am an anglophone, but I speak French.

What did he say? I can speak French in the House and I can speak with all representatives of public services in French or English.

I am going to continue trying to implement parts IV, V and VI of the Official Languages Act. That is my responsibility and our priority.

Taxation

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the homelessness or the hunger. The carbon tax coalition increased the carbon tax 23%, driving grocery prices up $700 per family, and a quarter of Canadians are relying on food banks. They cannot afford the basic necessities, let alone a summer vacation.

Conservatives have a common-sense plan to eliminate all federal gas taxes until Labour Day. This would save Alberta families $955.

Will the Prime Minister follow our common-sense plan and eliminate the federal gas tax, so families can afford a summer holiday?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I find this question very disingenuous. We will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to food bank usage, when they refuse and they vote against providing food to hungry kids at school.