Debates of June 3rd, 2024

Foreign Affairs

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, despite promising to do so three months ago, the Minister of Foreign Affairs has failed to issue a notice to exporters telling them that they cannot sell weapons to Netanyahu's government. As Palestinians are starving, as violence in the West Bank escalates and as UN experts are calling for the recognition of Palestine, the Liberals will not act to stop a genocide. Peace requires action. Justice requires action: two-way arms embargo, sanctions on Netanyahu's war cabinet and recognition of Palestine.

When will the minister stop speaking empty words and take action?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the situation in Gaza is absolutely catastrophic. That is why we need the violence to stop. We need an immediate ceasefire. That is why Canada fully supports the proposal by the President of the United States. We need to take a chance on peace.

Along with our allies, we are following what my colleague just mentioned very closely, because our position has been clear when it comes to arms exports. We will make decisions accordingly.

Taxation

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the level of hypocrisy on that side of the House is nothing short of astonishing. The Prime Minister is literally jet-setting around the world on his gas-fuelled jet, while the health minister has said people should not go on a family trip because it will cause the planet to “burn”. We have the simplest common-sense motion right now that will save Ontario families $592. That might mean nothing to them, but it means a lot.

Will the government listen, have some compassion and axe the tax so that families can make memories and enjoy their time together?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the savings that the Conservative Party of Canada is claiming are simply not true. Let me quote Dan McTeague, a former Liberal MP, but a vocal opponent to our policies, including carbon pricing, and no fan of mine, I might add. When asked about that proposal from the Conservative Party, he said that he was “in the wilderness” and that there was no way that the savings that the Conservatives were claiming were true, number one. He is at the head of Canadians for Affordable Energy. Number two, it would cost the government “billions of dollars” of taxpayers' money.

When are the Conservatives going to stop that?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, nobody believes a word that side of the House says. The Liberals have completely lost the trust of Canadians. They have caused chaos. They have caused crime. They have caused complete despair.

People are using food banks at the highest record level they ever have in their life. Nobody believes what the Liberals are saying. Do members know what 35¢ a litre at the pumps would save? It would save the cost to ship food. It would allow people to actually feed their families. Most importantly, it would take off the stress that is creating mental health crises in this country.

The Liberals stand over there and say that they will fight for this. Will they?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague led her question saying that nobody believes what anyone in the government has to say. It is not us who is saying it. One of the people who spent tens of thousands of dollars to take Conservative MPs on a junket to London to wine and dine them, so that they would be his mouthpiece in this chamber, is saying that he is lost “in the wilderness”.

There are academics who have studied the Conservatives' proposal. The cost savings that the Conservatives say will accrue to families would mean one would have to go to the North Pole, to the South Pole and back in order to make that a reality.

The member started her question talking about hypocrisy. I would remind her once again that she has been voting against measures and then showing up for the announcements about them in her riding.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister loves to jet-set around the world on his luxury vacations but then stick the taxpayers with the bill. Meanwhile, the Liberal health minister is telling Canadians not to take a summer vacation or the planet will “burn”. This hypocrisy is ridiculous and it is just not true. Conservatives have a common-sense plan to axe all federal gas taxes until Labour Day, ensuring that Canadians can take their families on a summer vacation.

Will the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister stop his hypocrisy, stop his radical policies and axe the tax so that Canadians can take their summer holiday?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, maybe it is the definition of a family road trip. For me, a family road trip is a few hundred kilometres. For the Conservatives, it's 44,000 kilometres in order to realize the benefit that they are selling. That is a pretty big difference.

I will tell colleagues that while Conservatives spent last weekend trying to cut YouTube clips for Instagram or Facebook so that they could try to misrepresent an issue as important as climate change, I was talking to the seniors who they want to deny dental care to and I was talking to the people who need pharmacare. Of course, their focus is not on the facts, but in misrepresenting the issues.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts.

I was at a senior's home in Claresholm this weekend. They are seeing their rent increased 5% to cover the cost of the carbon tax. This is forcing seniors to make very difficult choices, to either stay in their home, afford food or find other accommodations. Those are the facts.

Common-sense Conservatives are putting forward a plan that would save 35¢ a litre for Canadians. This would save Alberta families $955 this summer.

Will the out-of-touch Liberals support the common-sense Conservative plan to axe the tax so Canadians can take a well-deserved summer vacation with their family?

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

Mr. Speaker, what is really hypocritical is running on Erin O'Toole's carbon tax plan and then doing a 180° pivot.

However, let us talk about some stuff we can agree on. I think we all agree we want the Oilers to win the Stanley Cup, and we can all agree that Danielle Smith is a true-blue Conservative.

How do the Conservatives reconcile that with the fact that she has raised the tax on gas by 13¢ a litre?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a beautiful day out there. It puts parents in the mood to organize a vacation with the kids so they can enjoy some quality time together as a family. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister's inflationary spending, supported by the Bloc Québécois, means that 54% of them have had to change their plans because of the cost of living. People do not really want to pay more at the pump, as the radical Bloc wants them to. People want to pay less and enjoy life more.

Will the Prime Minister help the 65% of Quebeckers who will be heading out on summer road trips and vote to suspend federal gas taxes for the summer, yes or no?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives do not understand math. Perhaps I should try culture. Consider Isabelle Boulay's beautiful song, Entre Matane et Bâton Rouge, which is a distance of 2,800 kilometres. That takes about 30 hours by car. A person would have to drive from Matane to Bâton Rouge, then come back and drive there again, come back and drive there again, come back and drive there again, come back and drive there one more time, and that would be their vacation. They are talking nonsense.

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

Mr. Speaker, because of this government's taxes, Quebeckers cannot even afford to drive to Matane.

The Minister of Health completely missed the point when he tried to make kids feel guilty last week. He said, “there is good news for kids. They can take a summer fun-time vacation where they are locked in a car for 10 consecutive days non-stop, with no bathroom breaks.” Then he went on to say, “They can enjoy their 10 hours in the car and let the planet burn.”

Instead of going after kids and parents, will the Prime Minister call his minister to order and vote in favour of our common-sense motion to suspend gas taxes for the summer?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, to save as much money as the Conservative Party claims they would, a person would have to drive at least 320 hours over the summer. I do not know how much vacation time the Conservative Party thinks people have, but a person would have to drive 320 hours non-stop, without stopping to take bathroom breaks or to see the beautiful landscape. That is 320 hours of non-stop driving. What a bunch of nonsense.

They are not good at math, nor are they good at culture, it seems.

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, here we go again, having to talk about the Liberals' blunders when it comes to the French language.

Last week, the member for Alfred-Pellan wanted to promote English to the status of an official language in Quebec. Obviously, he was criticized by the parties in the Quebec National Assembly. Even the Quebec Liberals described it as an attack on Robert Bourassa's legacy. In this Parliament, however, not a single Liberal has spoken out so far against what the member for Alfred-Pellan proposed.

Silence means consent. Will someone finally stand up and put the member in his place?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I will say what we on this side of the House stand up for.

We stand up for French. We stand up for bilingualism. We stand up for the anglophone minority in Quebec. We stand up for the francophone minority outside Quebec. We stand up for two strong official languages. We stand up to defend Quebec within Canada.

All they think about is stirring up trouble, making sure that there are divisions to point at. They say they support official languages, but they vote against the action plan. They say they support official languages, but they vote against the budget. It is profoundly hypocritical.

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

Mr. Speaker, there is not a penny more for French in his official languages action plan.

There is only one francophone state in North America. Only one. However, that is one too many for the member for Alfred-Pellan, who wants us to make English an official language.

I will say it again for those sitting at the back who have not yet understood: In order for Canada to be bilingual, Quebec needs to be French. I will repeat this too: There is only one official language that is at risk in Canada and Quebec, and that is French.

Why do the Liberals always want to introduce more anglicization measures?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that Quebec is a French province. We have always said that and we have always defended that. We will continue to defend the French fact.

If my colleague had bothered to read the official languages action plan, then he would have seen that there is money there for French. If he had bothered to read the budget, then he might have understood that he is voting against things that he wants to defend.

He needs to be consistent. Does he want more French? Then he should have voted in favour of the official languages action plan. Does he want more money for French? Then he should have voted in favour of the budget.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is nonsense.

Unfortunately, it will not be long before the member for Alfred-Pellan's wish to anglicize Quebec comes true. The Liberals are working on it already.

The Office québécois de la langue française reports that the federal government is the worst employer in Quebec when it comes to the right to work primarily in French. Quebec's French language commissioner has proven that integrating immigrants into French-speaking society is impossible if the levels endorsed by Ottawa are maintained.

The Liberals are already acting as if English is an official language. Could that be why they are defending their member for Alfred-Pellan?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows full well, with the modernization of the Official Languages Act, our government has made it abundantly clear that French is declining here in Canada.

I come from Alberta. I studied in French at Campus Saint-Jean. Thanks to investments by the Government of Alberta, and thanks to official bilingualism across the country, I was able to study in the language of my choice, the language of Molière, in the right way.

We are going to protect official language minority communities in every province and in every corner of the country, because French and English matter. Under the act, Quebec is a unilingual francophone nation.

Taxation

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister is planning his taxpayer-funded junkets to tropical Caribbean islands, last week, this health minister made the ludicrous statement that families enjoying road trips are somehow complicit in letting the “planet burn”. This is just another example of this government's golden rule: Do as I say, not as I do.

Canada's Conservatives have presented an option: remove the tax on fuel so Canadians can afford to put fuel in their tanks and food on their tables. Will this Liberal-NDP Prime Minister come out of the ivory tower and please vote yes so Canadians can afford basics and maybe even a summer getaway?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I have a really hard time believing that suddenly the Conservatives have an interest in doing what is best on behalf of Canadian families. If that were the case, they would have supported the Canada child benefit, which will be indexed to inflation next month, supporting Canadian families even more. They would have supported moving forward with early learning and child care at $10-a-day enabling more parents to get back to work. Their actions are not matching their words.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one in three Canadians can access the child care. The rhetoric needs to stop. Today, the government has an opportunity to vote for our common-sense Conservative motion to provide a temporary measure of relief for Canadians over the summer. It would help families, single parents, seniors, students and everyone in between. Pausing the tax on fuel would benefit all Canadians. In Ontario, this would mean the government would leave nearly $600 in the bank accounts of Canadians.

Will the Prime Minister vote in favour of the motion and allow Canadians to have a simple getaway, yes or no?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, in terms of what we just heard, it is quite the contrary. We know that 750,000 Canadian families are now able to access affordable, inclusive, accessible child care through our child care plan. That translates into thousands of dollars of savings each and every year for Canadian families. We will continue to work with the provinces and territories to ensure more spaces are created, but this is how we help Canadian families.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians such as Tammy in my riding are being squeezed for every last penny. Families are paying hundreds of dollars every month on a tax plan that has not hit a single target. While Liberal ministers get chauffeured around town, they lecture Canadians and say the planet will burn if they drive to work or drive their kids to school.

Will the Prime Minister quit exploiting families for trying to get by, cut the carbon tax catastrophe and vote for the common-sense Conservative plan to help Canadians this summer by axing the tax?