Debates of June 18th, 2024

Children's Literature

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize a remarkable constituent of mine, Varavadi Monaghan. When she arrived in Canada 30 years ago, the first books her husband, Harry, gave to her were the classic Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery. She loved the books so much that she decided to translate them into Thai, her mother language. It took over a year to translate them; it was a true labour of love.

It is a fitting tribute in a year that would have been L.M. Montgomery's 150th birthday. Ms. Monaghan is looking forward to travelling to Cavendish, P.E.I., which is the site that inspired the Anne of Green Gables series. The books will be presented to Thai and Canadian dignitaries as a symbol of the cultural bridge between our two countries. This is a testament to the universality and relevance of the stories of our iconic protagonist, Anne.

Now, thanks to Varavadi, another generation of children can enjoy these inspiring tales.

Taxation

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister's latest tax hike is a direct hit to the Canadians who are lucky enough, after nine years of the Liberal government, to find themselves still in the middle class. Despite the government's attempts to start a class war, the real Canadians who would be hit the most by the tax are the middle class. They are the union leader and the worker selling the home they inherited from their parents, the small business owner trying to retire by selling their business and the farmer selling the family farm to their children. They are the real victims of the Liberal government's cruel tax hike, which would rob the working class and middle class to pay for the obese government and its reckless spending. The job-killing capital gains tax would make finding a family doctor even harder, raise food prices even higher, drive the number of home starts even lower and make starting a small business even pricier. Instead of Liberal-NDP tax hikes, we need common-sense tax reforms that will make taxes lower, simpler and fairer. This will bring home prosperity to all Canadians and all who live here.

Carbon Tax

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years under the current Prime Minister, his inflationary carbon tax is driving up the cost of everything, making life more expensive than ever before. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has already proven that the carbon tax, just like the Prime Minister, is not worth the cost.

As a result of Conservative pressure, the Liberals were finally forced to reveal the true damage to the Canadian economy caused by the carbon tax. That economic hit, adjusted for inflation, is $30 billion a year, or almost $2,000 per Canadian family. The government hid this number for years and even tried to silence the Parliamentary Budget Officer to keep him from exposing this information. The Prime Minister cannot be trusted to be honest with Canadians.

Conservatives continue to call for the full release of all the data on how the carbon tax hurts Canadians. The NDP-Liberal coalition must be transparent in terms of the harm it is causing Canadians until common-sense Conservatives can axe the tax.

Eid al-Adha

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, this past weekend marked the beginning of Eid al-Adha. During Eid, families come together to pray, share meals and distribute food to those in need, stressing the importance of unity, charity and sacrifice. It is a time to deepen bonds with family and friends, to show kindness to others and to reflect on the blessings of life.

As Eid passes this year, let us recognize the contributions of the Muslim community to our society and reaffirm our commitment to promoting diversity, understanding and respect for all faiths. Let us acknowledge the challenging times faced by many in our communities.

As politicians, we must do more to combat all forms of racism, including Islamophobia, while ensuring all have access to proper mental health supports as we feel the devastating impacts of conflict and loss of innocent lives throughout the world. May Eid usher in a year of joy, peace and understanding.

Eid Mubarak.

Indigenous Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, for Indigenous peoples to celebrate National Indigenous History Month and the upcoming National Indigenous Peoples Day, a lot of hurdles must be dismantled. Gaps persist from the decades of underinvestment in ensuring indigenous peoples can thrive. While Conservatives made cuts, Liberals tout increases, but these do not come close to closing the gaps.

Just these last weeks, we heard racist attitudes freely expressed without repercussions. Indeed, racist attitudes are protected in the House. When this happens, indigenous peoples suffer the consequences. It is indigenous peoples who will remain overrepresented in the justice system and who will have less access to health care. It is indigenous children who will keep going to school after sleeping in substandard, overcrowded housing conditions.

I take this time to remind indigenous peoples to voice and stand for their rights, show their strength by using their cultures and speaking their languages, and celebrate their strength.

Érik Canuel

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec recently lost one of its most brilliant film directors, Érik Canuel, to cancer at the age of 63.

Érik Canuel got his start in the business producing ads and music videos for the likes of Sylvain Cossette, Sass Jordan and Vilain Pingouin. He quickly rose through the ranks to become an icon in the industry.

He worked on the popular television series Fortier, but it was in film that he really made his mark. His works include The Pig's Law, Red Nose, The Last Tunnel, The Outlander and his 2007 mega-hit, Bon Cop, Bad Cop, which won the Genie for best picture and the billet d'or at the Jutra Awards.

At a time when Quebec cinema seemed to swing from dark arthouse films to fluffy comedies, Érik Canuel set out to produce a clever blend of genres, always with a healthy dose of suspense and action.

Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, of course. I am grateful to Érik Canuel for proving that Quebec's film industry can do anything and can do it very well.

Leader of the New Democratic Party

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-NDP government is not worth the cost or the corruption. Thanks to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I am going to interrupt the hon. member. I am going to ask the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay to please not speak unless he is recognized. I am going to ask the hon. member for—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order.

I am going to ask the hon. member for Calgary Midnapore to start from the top.

The hon. member has the floor.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-NDP government is not worth the cost or the corruption. Thanks to the leader of the NDP, Canadians have been forced to endure one more year of this cover-up coalition avoiding accountability. From the $60-million arrive scam app to the $200 million spent on McKinsey and the $1-billion green slush fund, the NDP and its leader have been there to cover up for the Liberals at the expense of taxpayers. Now the NDP is putting forward motions at parliamentary committees to block any attempts to uncover the truth in those scandals over the summer.

How many more billions of taxpayer dollars need to disappear for the leader of the NDP to finally stand up to corruption, stand up to the Prime Minister and say “enough is enough”? This summer, while they protect the Liberal Prime Minister, Conservatives will continue to fight not only for the truth but also for Canadians, each and every day.

John Murphy

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the passing of John Murphy, the former member of Parliament for Kings—Hants, who contributed a lifetime of work to advancing the public good.

After obtaining his master's degree in social work, John became the director of the Fundy Mental Health Clinic and later a psychiatric social worker at the Valley Regional Hospital. He also taught at Acadia University. Following his time in Parliament, John served as the chair of the National Council of Welfare, advocating for initiatives to reduce poverty. He was awarded the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers and the Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Medal for his many contributions to community.

He was a man of faith, and when I visited him in his final days, he was not afraid of death. He knew he had lived a good life, a life worth living, He was enjoying one of his favourite songs, the Irish tune Danny Boy.

I know I speak on behalf of all members of the House in extending condolences on John's passing to his wife, Julia; his children, Pat and Kelly; and the entire family. May he rest in peace.

Forestry Industry

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the radical Liberal Minister of Environment's decree is jeopardizing thousands of forestry jobs in Quebec.

I will reverse this radical decree and protect those jobs, but, until then, the cost of wood for building housing is going to go up, and that is on top of the jobs that will be lost.

How many Quebeckers are going to lose their jobs because of this radical Liberal decree?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government has been responsible for protecting species at risk across the country for decades. When we need to protect species at risk, in this case caribou, we work with the provinces that have jurisdiction. We are looking at how to protect species at risk, as well as jobs.

I look forward to continuing to work with the Quebec government to protect both the environment and jobs.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec nation is capable of doing both. This falls under provincial jurisdiction.

It is because the Bloc Québécois has kept this radical Liberal government in power that this minister is now adopting this job-killing decree. What is more, the Bloc MP for Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia said that the Bloc Québécois recognizes that Ottawa might interfere in this file.

Why did the Prime Minister listen to the Bloc Québécois's advice about getting involved in Quebec's jurisdiction to kill jobs in the forestry sector?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, every day brings fresh evidence that the Conservative Party absolutely does not understand that the way to build a strong future is to marry the environment and the economy. We cannot build a strong economy without protecting the environment. That is exactly what we are doing.

On their side, they have neither the capacity, nor the plan, nor the interest in protecting species at risk, our environment or the future for children across the country.

We need a plan to protect the environment. That is what we are providing, and it is something the Conservatives do not have.

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just common-sense Conservatives who are saying that the Prime Minister's latest tax hike on small businesses, farmers, home builders and health care is not worth the cost.

Now, former Liberal Treasury Board president Scott Brison says the Prime Minister's support for the tax hike is a combination of moral sanctimony and economic complacency for ministers who simply do what PMO tells them. He calls it “socialist bafflegab.”

Why is the Prime Minister going ahead with killing jobs and raising costs with what his own Liberals call socialist bafflegab?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, despite the Conservative leader's partisan attacks, the rise in capital gains inclusion rates is very simple. If Canadians make more than $250,000 in profit from selling investments in a given year, we are asking them to share a little more of those profits with Canadians who need those investments.

Whether it is by investing in housing, whether it is standing up for school food programs or whether it is delivering dental care to seniors, these are investments we are making to support Canadians by asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is not partisanship from me; it is his own former Liberal Treasury Board president who calls it socialist bafflegab. In fact, the tax begins applying on the very first dollar that a small business earns.

He has been promising that raising taxes would make life fairer. We found out today from Food Banks Canada that a record-smashing 25% of Canadians now live in poverty after nine years of his taxes, his deficits and his doubling housing costs.

Why is he going ahead with the same “wackonomics” that caused the poverty in order to solve it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition talks about affordability, but he is standing against raising taxes on the wealthiest so that we can give more supports to those who actually need it. He is standing against our school food program, which would help 400,000 kids across the country have fuller bellies as they study, and would take about $800 a year of pressure off of the families that are pressed with the cost of groceries. We are continuing to deliver dental care supports to seniors and, as of next week, we will be delivering dental care supports to young people and Canadians with disabilities. We are there for Canadians. He is voting against it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it has been nine years that the Prime Minister has been promising trickle-down economics, where if he takes money away from small businesses and workers it will go from one level of government to another level of government to another level of government. It will trickle down.

Right now, 25% of Canadians are living in poverty, which is something the Prime Minister tried to cover up, just like he covered up his own data that showed 25 billion dollars' worth of extra costs with the carbon tax, which is nearly $2,000 in carbon tax cover-up for every single family. How can we trust anything he says about taxes, poverty or money?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition hid for eight weeks while he was trying to come up with an answer for us asking the wealthiest to pay their fair share so that we could invest in fairness for every generation. I think he needs to go back to the drawing board because his answer is completely illogical and unfounded.

The reality is, when it comes to delivering for Canadians who are struggling with food prices, we have a national school food program that would help 400,000 kids, which his party is voting against. Conservatives talk about affordability, but they are only interested in themselves and their political advantage.

Democratic Institutions

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Premier of British Columbia, David Eby, wrote to the Prime Minister to ask him to do a better job of sharing information on foreign interference with his province.

We know that the Prime Minister is not very proactive when it comes to foreign interference. In a very partisan way, he would rather shut his eyes and hope that the problem goes away. However, as we saw in Quebec with Hydro-Québec, the problem is that foreign interference is not just happening at the federal level.

Why is the Prime Minister refusing to share critical information on foreign interference with the Quebec and provincial governments?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are working with our security and intelligence services so that we can provide secret, classified information to the provincial premiers to better address the very real issue of foreign interference.

Our government has also created more mechanisms and institutions to counter foreign interference than any other government. We will continue to be open, transparent and rigorous in the way that we counter foreign interference.

I thank the leader of the Bloc Québécois for getting his security clearance. We would like the Conservatives to do the same.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's scatterbrained, laissez-faire approach to domestic security has consequences.

There are consequences to his refusal to provide information about the Winnipeg lab, to the point of suing the Speaker of the House, to his stubborn refusal to launch a commission of inquiry for months on end, to his refusal to co-operate with the Quebec and provincial governments on sharing information. The Prime Minister is part of the problem, not the solution. He needs to get his act together.

What is he waiting for to provide Quebec and the provinces with the information in his possession?