Debates of Sept. 24th, 2024

Alleged Unparliamentary Language

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I may have missed that during the discussions that were being had. I will go back and look at the Hansard to see exactly what was said. If it was directed as a personal attack, then I will be asking the leader of the official opposition to withdraw and apologize. I was focused on some heckling, and I did not quite hear what was said. We will go to Hansard and come back to the House if required.

We have time for one more question. The hon. leader of the government in the House has the floor.

The House resumed consideration of the motion.

Opposition Motion—Confidence in the Prime Minister and the Government

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, the hon. Leader of the Opposition likes to point out what he thinks are falsehoods, but it is important that we correct the record—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

There are a couple of individuals who are still speaking, and it is very difficult to hear what is being said. Therefore, I would ask the hon. leader of the government in the House to ask her question again, and I would ask members to please be respectful.

On a point of order, the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives were asking me, unofficially, to withdraw a comment about the member from Stornoway working at Dairy Queen. We do not actually know if he ever did work at Dairy Queen.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

If they are going to raise points of order, I would ask that members indicate which Standing Order they are rising on so that the House can function properly. I also do not need other people to encourage anything in the House.

The hon. leader of the government in the House.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition likes to call out what he calls “falsehoods”, I think it is important that we set the record straight. When he talks about health care transfers, those were the 2003 health care accords that were signed by Paul Martin, a Liberal prime minister. Therefore, it seems that the good things that he takes credit for were Liberal policies.

However, since he stands on his record, does he plan to raise the age of retirement from 65 to 67, as he did when he was in government? Does he plan to rip up the child care agreements, which he did when he was in government as well?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Madam Speaker, no, and what I also do not plan to do is cut health care the way the Liberals did in the preceding years, prior to Conservatives coming in and rebuilding the public health care system. They slashed health care by $20 billion. We increased it by 70% to heal the pain and damage. Furthermore, I will bring in a blue seal standard so that our brilliant 20,000 immigrant doctors and 32,000 immigrant nurses can get licensed, get to work and reduce waiting lists.

Finally, I will reject the radical plan for a “single-payer” drug plan, which is right in the law. By definition, that means all private plans must be banned under the Liberal-NDP agenda, which they lay out in their wording in their pharmacare bill. They want to keep Canadians from having a private drug plan with the hope and the promise that, one day, they might get a government plan like the government housing plan, which doubled their housing costs; the school food program, which has not delivered a single meal in two years; or the gun plan, which spent $67 million without recovering a single gun. These people cannot be trusted to run a lemonade stand, let alone a drug plan. I will protect Canadians' right to have a private drug plan so that they have the medication they need when they go to the drug store.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, today, we are here to discuss confidence in the government. It is a matter that the Leader of the Opposition has put forward. However, what he said just now was full of things that are simply not true. He stated that he is proud of Canada, but he spent the past 20 minutes talking about all the things that he does not like about Canada and about Canadians. All he does is talk about how this country is broken. It is a shame that he wants to put forward a vision that does not put Canadians at the heart of what our government is doing.

Today, I am here to talk about the fact that, for the past nine years, the government has put Canadians first. We have always had Canadians at the core of everything we do. That is what we will continue to do throughout this minority parliament and, I hope, in the future. However, I want to start with a story.

This Sunday, I was in my community in Burlington, at the Appleby Line Street Festival. I had a number of constituents come up to me, but one who resonated with me in particular was a young mom in her early 30s. She said she needed to thank me for the national child care plan that we put in place because that plan has made a huge difference in her family's life. Her husband, unfortunately, had lost his job for whatever reason. The fact of the matter was that our putting in that child care has meant that he has been able to go back to school and train, and they have been able to afford their child care.

Stories such as these make a difference in people's lives. What we heard from the Leader of the Opposition just now is that he has every intention of undoing the important work that we did. When we think about the fact that over 100,000 women in Ontario alone rejoined the workforce because of that child care plan, that is something that the Leader of the Opposition wants to undo. The leader of the NDP asked him point-blank if he would cut the dental care plan, a plan that 750,000 Canadian seniors and children have now taken advantage of. He refused to answer.

When the Leader of the Opposition was talking about pharmacare, he was misleading Canadians when he stated that they would not be able to access the high-quality drugs that they need and that there would not be a private plan that they could potentially use. What he neglected to mention is that the initial part of this plan is to make diabetes medication and contraceptives free. One thing we need to ask ourselves is why the Leader of the Opposition is against that. Why is he against making contraceptives free for Canadian women?

We know that many members in the party opposite are opposed to the reproductive and health care rights of women in this country. We need to ask the opposition why they do not want to make contraceptives free. We know they have a hidden agenda. They are against women accessing the health care and reproductive care that they need. This is one example of how they intend to make it harder for women to access and utilize their reproductive rights in this country. That is something we should all be concerned about.

Let us talk about the economy. We know that Canadians have been going through tough economic times. Global headwinds have had an impact on Canadians, just as they have on people around the world. However, the current government has stood up for the Canadian economy in the most important ways. It has done this not once, but twice. When it came to renegotiating NAFTA, when we faced an American president who decided that their main objective was to rip up the North American Free Trade Agreement, what did the Prime Minister and the then foreign minister, who is now our finance minister, do? They stood up to Americans; not only did they renegotiate NAFTA, but they also made an even better NAFTA for Canadians. What did the Leader of the Opposition and his Conservative colleagues suggest we do from day one? It was to capitulate, sign whatever we could and give away the kitchen sink. That is how the Conservatives act, but we stood up.

When it came to steel and aluminum tariffs, the Leader of the Opposition talked about being on the floor of Stelco. I was at Stelco when we announced that the steel and aluminum tariffs were lifted. It was the current government that did that. It is the current government that has protected steelworkers, has protected the Canadian economy and has led to Canada's having the third-highest foreign direct investment in the OECD, because that is something that we care about: creating good jobs for Canadians.

The Leader of the Opposition talks about not wanting to give Canadian jobs to Americans, but what did the Conservatives do when it came to General Motors? In order to balance the budget, they sold our shares in General Motors.

[An hon. member]

At a loss.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, it was at a loss; that is right, but it was the current government that made sure those GM jobs stayed in Canada. It was the current government that made sure the auto sector has the supports it needs to advance in the 21st century. We believe in fighting climate change and we believe in low-emission vehicles, and we are seeing record investment in the Canadian auto sector, not just in Ontario and Quebec but right across this country.

What do the Conservatives think? They want to get rid of all of this and forget about it. They call it corporate social welfare. Guess what, those are thousands and thousands of direct jobs that Canadians rely on to pay their bills, to send their kids to after-school activities and to make sure they have a good quality of life, and the Conservatives want to rip all of that up. However, we will continue to fight for Canadians and for good jobs in this country.

I will talk about the second time we stood up for the Canadian economy, a time that most of us would like to forget about because it was when COVID-19 came to our doors and hit us hard in Canada, just like it hit everyone hard around the world. What did we do? We said we would be there to support Canadians. Whether that was with the Canada emergency business account, the Canada emergency wage subsidy or direct payments to Canadians through CERB to ensure that they could make ends meet, we were there for Canadians every step of the way. We ensured that when it was time, when it was safe to do so, we could restart the Canadian economy; it would turn back on and Canadians could get back to work.

What did the Leader of the Opposition say? He said he would not have provided any of those supports. He derided them. He said that putting government money into supporting people was a bad thing. He called that “big government”. On this side of the House, we believe that the government is there to help people. It is there to help Canadians. We do not believe, like the Conservatives opposite, that Canadians should be left to their own devices, to fend for themselves and be left on their own in times of need.

We have been there for Canadians when times were tough, and we will be there for Canadians throughout the recovery. We will be there to make sure they have what they need in order to succeed. That is exactly what we do on this side of the House, and that is exactly—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will interrupt the hon. member. I know she is very passionate, but every time she taps on the desk, it is a problem for the interpreters. I ask her to be mindful of that. I did not want to interrupt her, but I have to raise the point.

The hon. government House leader has the floor.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I apologize to the interpreters. I very much appreciate what they do. I will be sure to keep my hands higher up for the rest of my speech.

I will pick up where I left off.

It is extremely important for us. It is important for the government to ensure that Canadians know that everything we do is for them. It is a very different approach from what the Conservatives are proposing. We are here to stand up for Canadians' rights and economic opportunities, to defend our country and the Canadian economy, while the Conservatives do not want to defend them. They told the U.S. that in the event of a pandemic, they would do nothing. They will not be there to defend Canadians. That is extremely important.

It is really important to Canadians to ensure that we have access to good information. During his speech, the Leader of the Opposition once again said that he wants to destroy this country's media ecosystem. He said he does not want to give money to CBC/Radio-Canada. CBC/Radio-Canada is not perfect, but it is part of our history as Canadians, and it ensures that Canadians across the country, whether they are on the west coast, the east coast, in the north or in rural areas, whether they are anglophone or francophone, have access to the news.

We know why the Conservatives do not want that. When Canadians are well informed, they do not support the Conservatives. The Conservatives have a hidden agenda. They do not want Canadians to know what they will do if they come to power. Look at what happened with support for doctors. They do not want Canadians to have access to contraceptives. They do not want women's reproductive rights to be respected.

These are very important questions that Canadians might well ask Conservatives, but we all know how Conservatives are with the media. What does the opposition leader do when people ask him tough questions? He attacks the media. Attacks on the media are attacks on Canadians, because the media asks questions on behalf of Canadians. If he truly respected Canadians and this country, he would not attack the people asking those questions on behalf of Canadians.

Today is an important day for this country, with a decision about what the future of our country will look like. There is a Leader of the Opposition who does not want to share with Canadians what he will truly do, and there is a government that is committed to advancing the well-being and the welfare of Canadians.

I understand that these times are difficult, and for many Canadians, making ends meet is a challenge right now. That is exactly why we have put forward measures that help make that a little bit easier. Whether it is the Canada child benefit, which has lifted 650,000 children out of poverty; the Canadian dental plan, which has helped 750,000 seniors and children access a dentist; pharmacare that would make diabetes medication and contraceptives free for Canadians; or the billions of dollars of investment in this country that have created thousands of good-paying jobs for Canadians, the government is committed to continuing to advance a progressive agenda that puts Canadians first and builds an inclusive and prosperous country for all.

That is what we are committed to doing. That is what drives us every single day. What there is on the other side of the aisle is a leader who only wants to tear Canada and Canadians down.

There is so much potential and so much opportunity in this country, so much we must continue to do to ensure that the generations of Canadians who have built this country into what it is, the greatest country in the world, have a government that believes in this country, believes in Canadians and continues to make us the envy of the world. This is where the world wants to be, and Canada wants to lead that vision for the world.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, there was so much to unpack in that speech, but I will save that for when I get up to speak to the motion.

The former Conservative government, led by former prime minister Stephen Harper, as well as our hon. colleague, the member for Abbotsford, signed more free trade agreements than any other government, including the current government. The former Conservative government also put to an end the most costly trade dispute with our partner to the south: the softwood lumber agreement.

Not only that, but we also negotiated a year's leeway time for the next government to negotiate a softwood lumber agreement. In nine years, it has failed to get a softwood lumber agreement. Mills all across our province and all across our nation, and forestry families, are out of business and out of work.

What does the member have to say to the hard-working forestry families the current government has left behind?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to reassure the member that we continue to work hard for the forestry sector in our country.

What I do want him to recall is that the moment the President of the United States said he was going to rip up NAFTA, what did former prime minister Harper say? He said to sign it, do whatever we need to do, capitulate, give in and give him whatever he wants.

The Conservatives like to say they signed agreements, but they did not sign good agreements. We signed good agreements.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is negotiation time. The government is a real minority government now. I hope that it is open to negotiation. We certainly are.

We also know that seniors suffered financial hardship during COVID-19. The cost of living went up significantly. This government increased pensions for seniors aged 75 and over, but for some strange reason, it decided to create incomprehensible discrimination and leave those aged 65 to 74 out in the cold. This injustice, this discrimination, is unacceptable as far as we are concerned.

We are talking about costs. The bottom line is that raising benefits for 65- to 74-year-olds to match those of seniors aged 75 and over would represent 0.57% of the budget. Meanwhile, oil companies are getting $83 billion in credits.

My question is simple. What is more important to this government: oil companies or seniors?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows full well, Canadian seniors are an extremely important demographic for us. In fact, one of the first things we did after forming the government was boost the guaranteed income supplement for our most vulnerable seniors. That was a major change.

We have seen a decline in poverty among seniors, especially women. We know there is more to be done, and we know that seniors have suffered. Times are tough right now. To offer seniors more support, we also increased old age security for those 75 and up because the cost of living is higher for this demographic group.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, this is such an important morning, a chance for all Canadians to see parliamentarians stand up to vote non-confidence in the man who leads all the stunts from Stornoway. I am considering that the reason he is running ahead of this is his “axe the tax” claims. John Ivison, a good Conservative supporter, interviewed Ken Boessenkool, a former Harper aide, who said that there is a huge gap between what Conservatives say and what Conservatives do.

I hate to admit it, but Jason Kenney ran on “axe the tax” and then beefed up the industrial carbon tax in Alberta. Danielle Smith ran to axe the tax, and she beefed up the industrial carbon to $170 a tonne. Boessenkool says there is no way the member for Stornoway is going to axe the tax; he is just going to continue to scare people, frighten people and divide people, and then he is going to carry on with the policies as per usual.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I do not always agree with my hon. colleague from Timmins—James Bay, but I think he hit the nail on the head just now. It is clear that the Leader of the Opposition runs on slogans. He likes to play political stunts. Today is just that. In fact, I think the member's point about this being more a vote on non-confidence in the Leader of the Opposition than it is on anything else is a cogent one.

The point of the matter is that the Leader of the Opposition is just not telling the whole truth to Canadians, and that is something we have seen with him time and time again. It is something we are seeing today clearly on display. He just cannot tell the whole truth.

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Madam Speaker, Canadians are becoming more and more put off by the insulting behaviour and the slogan burping of the Leader of the Opposition. They are also more and more concerned that there might be a hidden agenda.

Can my hon. colleague speak to what might be lurking in that hidden agenda?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, I think we saw on full display today that the Leader of the Opposition can only speak in half-truths. He likes to keep half of his plans hidden because he knows if he were to share his whole plan with Canadians, they would not approve.

We know, for example, that many members of his caucus are opposed to women accessing their reproductive and health care rights, yet he does not speak about it. We know that when he talks about the price on pollution, he neglects to include the fact that Canadians get a rebate. If he were to remove that price on pollution, Canadians would no longer get the rebate. There are many more issues about which he only shares half the truth. He has a real problem telling the whole truth.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Madam Speaker, our leader has stood in the House and answered question after question when it comes to women's reproductive rights. He answered very clearly, with a simple one-word answer, when a member from the NDP asked if he was going to reopen the abortion debate. His answer was no. That is not a half-truth. That is a straightforward answer. The only people talking about this are the Liberals and they are gaslighting every step of the way.

Why is it that all the Liberals can do is gaslight, strike fear and divide Canadians? They divide indigenous and non-indigenous, vaccinated and non-vaccinated. Why is it that the only way they feel they can win is by gaslighting and dividing Canadians?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague is mistaken. The member from the NDP asked him whether he would cut dental care, and he did not answer the question.

What Liberals talk about is based on facts. When the Conservatives were in power, what did they do? They put a global gag order on international development agencies so they could not work on sexual health and reproductive rights. When it comes to Canadians' rights, what did the Leader of the Opposition do? When he was minister for democratic reform, he made it harder for 500,000 Canadians to vote.

This is not about fear. This is not about gaslighting. This is about the actual record of the Leader of the Opposition. It is there in plain light for Canadians to see. It is only the Conservatives who are putting their heads in the sand.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague opposite a question about today's opposition day. Does she think that this is a good use of taxpayer dollars and House resources?

I will read the motion as presented:

That the House has no confidence in the Prime Minister and the government.

I think that everyone can agree with that. The problem that I have with this motion is that it is too simple. I think that we could have supported it had it contained something more relevant.

We no longer have confidence in the Prime Minister and the government because of the way they are letting seniors get poorer. We no longer have confidence in the government and the Prime Minister because of the way they are leaving farmers in the lurch, particularly when it comes to supply management. We no longer have confidence in the government and the Prime Minister because of the ArriveCAN scandal and all of the spending scandals that have come with the Liberals being in power for too long. That is what I would have liked to hear the government House leader talk about.