Debates of Sept. 24th, 2024

Vehicle Theft

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about an issue that is very important to the residents of Mississauga—Erin Mills: the concern of auto theft and its impact on the lives of my constituents. That is why the Liberal government is working across jurisdictions to enact real solutions to crack down on auto theft and make our communities safer.

Our national auto theft summit in February led to a national action plan, enhanced detection at major ports and stronger collaboration with local police. It is thanks to these collective efforts that auto thefts decreased by 17% in the first six months of 2024. This success is due in no small part to our local police forces, and I want to particularly highlight Chief Nishan Duraiappah, Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich and Peel Regional Police officers for their incredible efforts to arrest criminals and recover stolen vehicles through project odyssey and more initiatives. This is what real action looks like.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, the Bloc Québécois will have to vote on a motion and decide whether it will enable the most centralizing, costly government in the history of Canada, a government that is bad for Quebec, to stay in power. This government doubled the cost of housing and doubled the national debt. The Premier of Quebec has said that the Quebec nation does not want the House to show confidence in this government.

Even the Liberal Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said that the government broke the immigration system. If the minister himself does not have confidence in this government's track record, then why should the Bloc Québécois?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

As I mentioned yesterday, questions must pertain to the administration of government so that members can get clear answers.

The hon. Minister of Public Services and Procurement.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader obviously still does not understand the rules of the House, even after being here for 20 years. Another thing that he still does not understand is the importance of dental care for Quebeckers. He is talking about hurting Quebeckers.

What is he telling Quebeckers in my region? He is telling them not to enrol in the Canadian dental care plan because it does not exist, when 800,000 seniors in Quebec have enrolled in the plan. Meanwhile, he is telling them not to enrol, that the plan does not exist.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this government has doubled the cost of housing for people in the Quebec City area, tripled the cost of housing in Montreal and inflated the price of food, forcing two million Canadians to turn to food banks every month. It has pushed Quebec to the breaking point, with an immigration system that even the Liberal minister says is broken. The Quebec nation does not want a centralizing, costly government.

Will the members vote for an election in order to elect a common-sense government?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, there is a great deal of hypocrisy in a question that is supposed to show concern for people's lives, when the leader of the Conservative Party cannot even clearly state his hidden agenda and when the member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands got a paid trip to Florida to flog an anti-abortion, anti-women's rights vision.

The first thing he should do is get his caucus under control and reassure women here in Canada that this right will not be touched.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, costs are up, taxes are up, crime is up and time is up. The government has doubled the cost of housing, doubled the debt, forced two million people to the food bank and raised taxes, and now it wants a 61¢-a-litre carbon tax that will grind our economy to a halt. The good news is that in a carbon tax election, Canadians can axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.

Can we bring it home now?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, maybe I can speak in language the Leader of the Opposition will understand. Conservatives are going to cut the dental, they are going to axe pharmacare, they are going to break the health system and they are going to destroy child care. The difference between those slogans and the nonsense he throws around, the vacuous garbage that is best left for Nabisco and not for the House of Commons, is that is the stuff he is actually going to do.

At some point, he is going to have to look in the eyes of seniors and tell them what he is going to do to dental care. He is going to have to look in the eyes of diabetes patients and say what he is going to do with their diabetes medication. At some time, the vitriol is done and the truth comes out.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Colleagues, we are skating pretty close to the line. I recommend that members ensure that they do not do that.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that when the member thinks of the prospect of a carbon tax election, he becomes unglued. He becomes very rattled and loses control of himself, waving his hands around because he is desperate to quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre. He is desperate to push a government takeover that will shut down people's private drug plans and ban them from having access to their medical plans.

Common-sense Conservatives will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime and protect people's drug plan. How about that?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, this is the guy who said dental care does not exist. This is the guy who said providers will not sign up. Well, I have news; 750,000 people across this country got care. I also have news that more than 80% of providers have signed up. We are getting it done.

He can fearmonger and he can scare people, but we are going to get it done on pharma as well. We are going to make sure that diabetes patients get their medication. We are going to make sure that women get their contraceptives, because that is what freedom looks like: a woman who has choice over her own body.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would like to remind all members that questions should be asked and answers should be directed through the Chair. I am going to again ask members to make sure we do not skate too close to the line.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what his plan does is quadruple the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre and impose a single payer that bans women from using their existing private plans to get contraceptives or any other form of medication. That is what a “single payer” means, and that is not what freedom looks like. What he actually wants to do is quadruple the carbon tax, which will grind our economy to a halt. It will be a nuclear winter for our economy.

Why do we not allow Canadians to vote in a carbon tax election to decide if they are ready to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the House what freedom does not look like. It does not look like Conservative members of Parliament taking all-expenses-paid trips to Florida to talk about how—

[Michael Barrett]

Which 35 of you are going to be here after the next election?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would appreciate it if the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes would refrain from speaking out of turn. I know that he will have his turn to ask questions.

The hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons from the top, please.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the House what freedom does not look like, which is Conservative members of Parliament taking all-expenses-paid trips to talk at anti-abortion conferences and to push forward an anti-abortion vision of Canada. When the leader of the Conservative Party talks about women's rights, he neglects to share his hidden agenda that would take away their reproductive rights. When he talks about freedom, he only talks about half of the story.

Today what we are doing is demonstrating that the House does not have confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party.

Seniors

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, time is running out for the Liberals. Decision time is almost here. They will have to choose between economic justice for seniors and an election. They can stop creating two classes of seniors by denying people 74 and under the 10% OAS increase that was given to older seniors, or they can officially consult the public, hoping beyond hope that the polls are wrong. We are siding with seniors.

What will the Liberals choose? The clock is ticking.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Bloc Québécois, the Liberal Party of Canada has been there for seniors these past years.

We increased the guaranteed income supplement by $1,000. This helped nearly one million seniors in Canada. We increased the guaranteed income supplement earnings exemption by 40% so that working seniors can keep more of what they earn.

The Bloc Québécois voted against those measures.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, seniors deserve more than partisanship. Our request is clear. Seniors deserve clearer answers than that.

We are talking about seniors who have worked for decades toward a good retirement. Today, however, they are seeing their purchasing power crumble while the cost of living rises. These people deserve real answers when we talk to them about their income. Seniors are listening. The question is important, so we are going to ask it again.

Will the Liberals increase old age security for seniors under 75, yes or no?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat myself for the benefit of my friend from La Prairie and his political party: Quebec's seniors have the right to wake up this morning and ask what just happened to them.

Bloc members have always voted against seniors. They have always voted against our plans to improve the lives of seniors, especially the most vulnerable. Recently, they voted against the dental care plan for Quebec seniors.

Shame on them.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are too weak to stand up to Doug Ford, so some patients are leaving surgeries with thousands of dollars in bills. The Liberals are too weak to stand up to Danielle Smith, so people in her province are forced to pay to see a doctor. That is what Conservatives do. They cut and gut health care so their big business buddies can use that to rip off Canadians even more.

Why is the Liberal government letting Conservatives privatize our health care system?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, if we are going to be talking about being too weak, two days after the NDP leader got a letter from the Leader of the Opposition saying to back out of standing up for pharmacare and to standing up for improvements to the health care system, he ran away. If he ran away from that, how is he going to stand up for Canadians?

We had a chance. We were working well together. We got things done on dental, 750,000 people and over 80% of providers. We were working well together on pharmacare. If he has ideas, he knows we were all ears. However, he is all about politics. He is all about trying to divide rather than working together.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have let Conservative premiers privatize their health care systems and have done nothing about it.

The last Conservative government cut health care funding by $43.5 billion. That is the salary of more than 60,000 nurses every year.

Now Conservative premiers, like François Legault, are privatizing our health care system, and the Liberals are doing nothing about it.

Why are the Liberals doing nothing to protect people and to protect the Canada Health Act?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I get frustrated, because there is an existential crisis facing our health system. It is represented in the person of the Conservative leader, whose cuts and approach to health care, to destroy pharmacare, to attack dental care and to undermine the deals that we have signed with provinces and territories, greatly menace this thing that we treasure, public health.

The investments that we made must continue. The progress we made must continue. That is why I urge parliamentarians to stand up against what the Conservatives would do to this health system, and work collaboratively to make sure we get the care that every Canadian deserves.