Debates of Oct. 10th, 2025

Mental Health and Addictions

[Chak Au, Conservative, Richmond Centre—Marpole, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' taxpayer-funded safe supply is anything but safe. In British Columbia, the drugs are flooding the black market, funding organized crime and feeding the very addiction crisis they claim to solve. The Liberal government is subsidizing the drug trade, while the public safety minister refuses to acknowledge this public safety crisis.

When will the Liberal government end its reckless drug supply scheme that is poisoning Canadians and pouring profits into the hands of criminals?

[Jacques Ramsay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, everyone in Canada deserves to be safe and feel safe. That is why we are giving police services and the CBSA the resources and tools they need to fight crime. Whether it is fighting fentanyl trafficking, illegal firearms imports, human trafficking, online pornography or money laundering, we are taking action.

Canadians elected the Liberal Party of Canada because they know they can count on us to keep them safe.

Sport

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, champions lift up their communities and, over the last few weeks, we have seen the Toronto Blue Jays lift up the spirits of Canadians from coast to coast to coast with their ALDS championship win over the New York Yankees.

However, the Blue Jays organization is not just about winning ball games. Can the Secretary of State for Sport update the House of Commons on his work with the Jays Care Foundation to bring sports opportunities to more youth across Canada?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Secretary of State (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and fellow team Canada Olympian for his dedication to community sport.

He is right. Champions lift our communities up and the Jays Care Foundation is making baseball and softball more inclusive and accessible right across Canada. Through Sport Canada's community sport for all initiative, the government has coinvested $450,000 with the Jays Care Foundation for a million-dollar impact to ensure that young women and girls, indigenous youth, persons with disabilities, justice-involved youth and lower-income families all benefit from the power of sport.

For the Blue Jays, can I get a “let's go, Blue Jays”?

[Some hon. members]

Let's go, Blue Jays.

Automotive Industry

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are breaking their campaign promise to stand up for auto workers and to stand up against tariffs. This week, we all saw the Prime Minister sit down in the Oval Office, meekly nodding while President Trump threatened to steal more of our auto workers' jobs. I did not see any elbows go up. I saw a promise to send another $1 trillion of Canadian investment over to the U.S.A. as a reward for Trump's aggression.

Canadian auto workers expected to see more fight than that. Why is the Prime Minister letting them down?

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade]

Here we go again, Mr. Speaker. I want to reiterate that Canada currently enjoys the best trade agreement with the U.S., and this is not up for debate.

However, we are not entirely pleased. Discussions are ongoing because, as the member knows, the Prime Minister has consistently emphasized that we will only accept the best agreement for Canada.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, none of those words provide material support to the 8,000 of my neighbours in my hometown who work at the largest car plant in Canada. They depend on those jobs to put food on the table this Thanksgiving. They depend on those jobs to pay their rent at the end of the month. Let me be clear: This plant cannot survive the current tariff regime, and Trump officials said that the regime is staying.

We are in extra innings now. Will the Prime Minister fight for these jobs before the game is over?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is focused on protecting Canadian jobs, workers and businesses. We have stabilized supply chains through initiatives like our strategic response fund. We have provided direct support to affected industries like steel, aluminum, manufacturing, auto and agriculture. We are doing this all while maintaining Canada's enviable fiscal position and AAA rating. We are Canada strong.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of Liberal government, Canada has the fastest-shrinking economy of any G7 country. Since the Prime Minister's visit to Washington, the U.S. commerce secretary stated that car assembly is going to be in America and there is nothing Canada can do about it.

The Liberal Prime Minister recently promised the President that $1 trillion of new investment will flow into the United States. Are those the jobs of Canadian auto workers, including those at the GM plant in St. Catharines?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue and to the Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, the government is standing up for auto workers in all tariff-impacted industries in Canada. We put out a package of supports to support industries, offered a remission framework and much more.

Today I want to highlight some good news for all Canadians regarding affordability. We have made the national school food program permanent. That will feed 400,000 more kids in perpetuity. We are also offering automated tax filings for Canadians so that millions of Canadians can get access to supports like the Canada child benefit. That is going to help families across the country.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls—Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member should talk to the residents in his riding who lost their jobs when GM cut the third shift in Oshawa.

This summer, GM announced plans to invest $4 billion in three auto plants. That does not include the $800 million in Tonawanda, New York, just across the border from us, and it is not St. Catharines. As billions of dollars flee Canada for the U.S., Canadian auto workers are watching in dismay.

Why does the Prime Minister seem more interested in helping U.S. auto workers than those here at home?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue and to the Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, apparently, common sense does not survive the Conservative caucus any longer. It seems like common sense is not so common over there.

Common sense would suggest that, when a country is in a trade war, a responsible government would support its workforce in industries, which is exactly what this government has been doing. We launched a $5-billion strategic response fund, a rescaling and retraining program for up to 50,000 workers. There is $10 billion in liquidity support, a remissions framework and a buy Canadian policy.

We are doing the heavy lifting to ensure that our industries survive—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

The hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we were treated to an incredibly embarrassing display as the Prime Minister stood here and bragged about a 10% tariff on Canadian auto. I had the privilege of meeting with Unifor auto workers earlier this week, and they told me a 10% tariff on auto will mean the end of the Canadian auto industry. Either the Prime Minister is unbelievably uninformed about what will hurt the auto industry or he actually does not care when President Trump says he wants to take the auto sector.

Is that why the Prime Minister is going to send $1 trillion of investment to the United States, so they can build more auto jobs for the Americans?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives need a reality check. At the end of the day, there were 60,000 jobs created. Almost half of those are in the manufacturing industry. When the leader of the Conservative Party sat with Stephen Harper, the manufacturing industry was devastated in the province of Ontario.

Conservatives should not try to give us a lesson when we have a Prime Minister who understands the needs of Canadians. That is why we are building Canada strong.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, giving the Liberals a lesson would imply that they could actually learn something, so we are not going to try.

Here are the facts: GM just laid off 750 workers, and the Brampton Stellantis assembly plan has been on layoff for eight months waiting for retooling money. Meanwhile, Stellantis is going to invest $10 billion in the United States. Why? It is because the Prime Minister has failed to negotiate an agreement with the United States after promising elbows up.

Is this also why he is promising $1 trillion of investment in the United States? Is that so Stellantis and other companies can build more factories there? Why have the Liberals abandoned auto workers in Canada?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives go around telling people that Canada is broken, when Canada is the best place in the world to call home, here are the facts: We have a Prime Minister who is committed to major developments, five major projects and 60 billion dollars' worth of investments in all regions of Canada.

We are building Canada strong, and we are going to wait until we can get the best deal for Canadians. We are not on the Conservatives' agenda. We are on Canadians' agenda, and that means building our country.

Forestry Industry

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the coastal forest industry is in crisis. Harvest volumes have been cut in half. Nine mills have closed, and thousands of hard-working Canadians have lost their jobs. What the people want to know is where the federal government is. The PM promised to negotiate a win with the United States. Instead, lumber tariffs have doubled since he became Prime Minister. Meanwhile, permitting and legal issues have only gotten worse.

How many more forestry workers across B.C. have to lose their jobs until the Liberal government comes up with a plan that actually works?

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian government is right there with Canadian workers and affected Canadian communities. We have announced $50 million in supports for workers, $700 million in liquidity support and $500 million to innovate both products and markets.

We are more than happy to work with the members opposite if they have ideas to continue to support the forestry sector, but we have not heard any.

[Aaron Gunn, Conservative, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have a quote: “We are one pulp mill closure away from the total collapse of coastal forestry.” That is from Kermit Dahl, the mayor of Campbell River, articulating just how dire the situation has become. On Vancouver Island, every single mill is running at reduced capacity due to lack of fibre and crippling tariffs, tariffs that the Prime Minister promised to have removed by July 21. Instead, they have increased by 100%.

What does the Prime Minister have to say to the thousands of Canadian forestry families he is selling out by not keeping his word?

[Claude Guay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we have been clear that the U.S. tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber are absolutely unjustified, and we are working at every level to resolve the softwood lumber dispute. I have 40 years of experience in business, and never do I negotiate in public. That is what our Prime Minister is doing to support all of our workers.

[Scott Anderson, Conservative, Vernon—Lake Country—Monashee, BC]

Mr. Speaker, has the Prime Minister ever had to choose between buying groceries and paying the rent? Has he ever felt the panic of not knowing how to make it until the end of the month? That is the reality for thousands of B.C. forestry workers this winter while he jets around the world handing out jobs to his wealthy friends and making concessions to the Americans. He bragged that his elbows would stand up to Trump, but Canadians are worse off than ever since his elbows arrived, so I have to ask this: How many B.C. lumber workers will lose their jobs because of the Prime Minister's failures, and why will he not fight for Canadian families?

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is going across the world finding new trade deals and new markets for Canadian products, including forestry products. This is part of a diversification effort backed by $500 million that is going to support new markets and new innovations. We have supports for workers of $50 million, we have liquidity supports of $700 million, and we want to work with people to find more and do more, but we have not heard any ideas from the opposition, so I would welcome them at any time.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Giovanna Mingarelli, Liberal, Prescott—Russell—Cumberland, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians elected this new Liberal government to cut costs. Investing in families is how we can help them get ahead. This is different from the Conservative Party's approach, which is to eliminate benefits.

Can the parliamentary secretary tell us how we are helping families get ahead?