Debates of May 7th, 2024

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, this is not the first time the Liberals have gone off the rails.

Let us not forget the member for Saint‑Laurent, who claimed that Bill 96 would prevent anglophones from receiving medical care in Quebec; the West Island members, who threatened to vote against their own reform of the Official Languages Act if it better protected French in Quebec; or the Liberals taking pride in all their unilingual English appointments. These are the same Liberals who appointed a Governor General who still does not speak French.

Why are the Liberals showing such disregard for protecting French?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure where the member was going with this, but our colleague here is a proud francophone outside Quebec who stands up for francophones. He stands up for French not only in Quebec, but also across the country, while the Bloc Québécois could not care less about that.

If we look at everything the Government of Canada has done in terms of funding for French, the Bloc Québécois should be ashamed because they voted against it almost every time. While they cave in, while they vote against what we are doing, we are standing up like our colleague who stands up for all francophones in Canada.

Housing

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the Prime Minister and the Bloc Québécois are not worth the cost. The more the government spends, with support from the Bloc Québécois, the harder life becomes for Quebeckers. The housing crisis will soon force Canadians, against their wishes, to move into their vans as a last resort, not as a retirement dream.

When will the Prime Minister, who is being propped up by the Bloc Québécois, which voted for $500 billion in budget allocations, stop wasting money so that Quebeckers can start living decently again, in a real home, not a van?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Once again, I encourage all members to remain silent when an hon. member is asking a question and when an hon. member is answering the question.

The hon. Minister of Innovation.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are not going to take any advice from the Conservatives, who are flirting with extremist groups in this country.

Canadians know that the Conservatives are a party with no vision, no ambition and no plan for the country.

On this side of the House, we are aware that we need to help families and young people and that we need to invest in housing. Let me remind the people of Saint‑Nicolas who are watching us that the members opposite voted against help for children, against housing assistance and against investments in Quebec. It is shameful.

On this side of the House, we will always fight to improve Canadians' quality of life.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is not building housing, it is building bureaucracy with its $500 billion in centralizing, inflationary spending that created the cost of living crisis and the housing crisis we are currently experiencing. Thousands of Canadians are in dire poverty.

Will the Prime Minister start building housing, fast? When things get so bad that people have to start sleeping in their van or car, it is because the Prime Minister is asleep at the wheel.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, while my colleague is hooting and hollering as practice for his next appearance on Infoman, we are putting real programs in place for young people.

I have the 2023 figures for the FHSA, which helps young people save for their down payment. More than 645,000 young people have signed up, and they have saved $2.6 billion.

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this government, the housing crisis in Canada keeps getting worse. The dream of buying a home is dead for future generations. It is proof that the Bloc Québécois and this Prime Minister are not worth the cost. In Beauce, families who are lucky enough to have affordable housing still have to use a food bank to feed themselves. There has been a 20% increase in the use of these banks since the beginning of 2024.

When will this Prime Minister, supported by the Bloc Québécois, stop his wasteful ways so that Quebeckers can afford food and housing?

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

Mr. Speaker, has the House heard about the six affordable housing units? That is the number of affordable housing units the Conservative leader built when he was minister responsible for housing, during his entire mandate and across the country.

I am glad that the member for Beauce asked that question because he is a former mayor of a municipality in Quebec. Does he agree with the opposition leader, the Conservative leader, who thinks every municipality in Quebec is incompetent even though they are the ones building 8,000 affordable housing units with support from the Canadian government?

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would invite my colleague across the way to come to Beauce next weekend and explain that to people and see how things work out.

The more the government spends, the more Quebeckers are struggling. We are talking about $500 billion in centralizing, inflationary spending that is only worsening the housing crisis. While Quebeckers are struggling to survive, the Bloc Québécois has chosen to vote in favour of $500 billion in Liberal spending. In other words, it is voting for bureaucracy and wasteful spending.

When will this government get out of the way and let the Conservatives fix the budget and build the homes?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party is using the most vulnerable people as political pawns. It is unacceptable.

The truth is that we are building 150,000 affordable housing units under the national housing strategy. In contrast, when the Conservative leader was minister responsible for housing, only six affordable housing units were built across the country. That is unacceptable. We are making investments to build affordable housing, in Quebec and all across the country.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Once again, I will ask the members for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier and Mégantic—L'Érable not to speak until they are recognized by the Chair to ask a question.

The hon. member for Vancouver East.

Democratic Institutions

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, during the inquiry, concerns around the participation of busloads of Chinese foreign students and falsified documents for the Don Valley North nomination came to light. The commissioner noted that Chinese foreign interference activities could have made a difference as to who was nominated in Don Valley North. The Chinese media reported that the nomination was won by 14 votes.

The Prime Minister cannot continue to pretend there is nothing to see here. Based on the damning findings, what action will the Prime Minister take now?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, far from not taking this matter seriously, our government has done the exact opposite. Our colleague knows well that we have put in place a series of measures now, over a number of years, to deal with the very real threat that she identified of the Chinese government seeking to interfere in the democratic process in Canada. All political parties, and not just at the federal level, face this threat. That is why yesterday, for example, we introduced important legislation in the House. We look forward to working with colleagues to hopefully pass it quickly.

Northern Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, people in Nunavut pay hundreds more dollars in shipping fees than those in the rest of Canada. Amazon charged a Pangnirtung resident over $700 in shipping fees. This is unacceptable. The Liberals are catering to ultrarich corporations by allowing this.

Nunavut needs a government that fights to take on Amazon's corporate greed. Why is the government okay with Nunavummiut paying hundreds of dollars more in shipping fees to get basic goods?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Minister of Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question. We realize that the price of food is too expensive in Nunavut. That is why we have invested close to $150 million in the nutrition north program, including $124 million for the harvesters support grant and $15 million for the community food program. We have $1 billion for the school food program, which will benefit northerners and Nunavut.

We are committed to working with the member and with the Nunavut government to make sure that we make progress on this very important issue.

Women and Gender Equality

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has made his position clear: If he is prime minister, he will pick and choose which rights and freedoms Canadians can have. That is a slippery slope. There was the overturning of Roe v. Wade in the United States.

Do Canadian women have to worry about being denied their right to choose? Could the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth remind the House of our commitment to defend women's rights?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth]

Mr. Speaker, our position is unwavering. We will always vigorously support a woman's right to choose and her right to have autonomy over her own body. Conservatives say they will use any tools necessary when it comes to a matter of criminal justice. It was not long ago that abortion itself was a crime. We will not go back, even though, just this morning, a Conservative MP reminded us of the future the Conservatives want for women in this country. On this side of the House, a woman's right to choose will never be up for debate.

Mental Health and Addictions

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

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, cost or disorder. Sixty-six people died, on average, while we waited for the Prime Minister to make a decision on B.C.'s request. The government dithered and people died. The government did not even go as far as it could have in getting rid of its aggressive, radical and wacko legalization of hard drugs.

Why did it take the government so long to reverse its course on legalization? Will it promise never to do it again?

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

Mr. Speaker, of course, the Prime Minister dealt with that thoroughly, earlier in this question period, and we have amended our arrangement with British Columbia.

That member needs to answer a very important question. The Leader of the Opposition has now vowed to have an à la carte Charter of Rights where, today, he would decide what rights to have and what rights to not have. What would it be tomorrow? Would it be women's reproductive rights? Would it be the right to a fair trial? Would it be the right to freedom of expression? The notwithstanding charter-ripping policies of the current Conservative Party need an answer.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. Across British Columbia, there are people strung out on drugs, often comatose or dying. The legalization of fentanyl, meth and crack has led to a tragic wave of death. The Liberals and New Democrats are panicking as their poll numbers drop. The public is fed up. Deadly hard drugs will still be able to be used with today's announcement.

When will the Prime Minister stop tinkering and completely end his wacko drug experiment?

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

Mr. Speaker, I must remind the hon. member that the question was already answered. On this side of the House, what we want to emphasize is that a woman's right to choose and charter rights generally are non-negotiable. On this side of the House, we will always protect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We will always stand up for a woman's right to choose, and we ask everybody in the House to vote in favour of contraception for women so they have autonomy over their own bodies.

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

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs and disorder.

The Liberal minister responsible for the legislation of hard drugs, like fentanyl, meth and crack in British Columbia, is still clinging to parts of the Liberal's wacko hard drug legislation experiment. Public open drug use is rampant in our streets. People are even afraid to take their dogs out to walk around their own neighbourhoods.

On what day will the Prime Minister completely end this failed radical drug policy?