Debates of Oct. 3rd, 2025

Canada Post Corporation

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to note that the labour dispute at Canada Post has been going on for 20 months.

If we wish to preserve this institution, which is essential across the country, reform is necessary. Although the Bloc Québécois may believe that Canada Post losing $10 million a day is acceptable, it is not acceptable to us. I believe that the vast majority of Quebeckers and Canadians would also not find this acceptable.

Moreover, many of the member's colleagues have been asking in committee for years that we transform and modernize Canada Post. That is exactly what we are doing. At this stage, I believe that the union and Canada Post's management need to find common ground that serves the best interests of all.

Employment

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised he would negotiate a win by July. It is October and Canadians are losing their jobs. Canada has the second-highest unemployment in the fastest-shrinking economy in the G7. Mills are closing in communities throughout B.C., putting hundreds of people out of work.

Why are Canadians losing their jobs? Is it because of the Prime Minister's failed diplomacy abroad, or is it the job-killing economic policies at home?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, every time the Conservative Party has had a chance to vote with workers, they voted against them. Whether it is for skills training, investment in unions and union training, or investments in major projects, they vote against these things time and time again. The member's question is a little hollow, I would say. Conservative Party members know it too.

We are sitting on this side of the House because Canadians believe in governments that invest in them. We will keep doing that.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is talking verifiable nonsense. She knows or should know that our platform clearly committed to significant increases in support for union-based training.

The minister should listen better, because yesterday, business leaders from Toronto came to committee and ripped into the government. They described how 10 years of bad Liberal policies have created worsening structural unemployment. Canada has the second-highest unemployment in the fastest-shrinking economy in the G7.

Will the minister now admit that failing economic policies at home and broken promises on the world stage are causing an unemployment crisis?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the member opposite, Canadians understand there are structural changes in the global economy. They are counting on a government that will put the investments into their lives, into their workforces, into their training and into their families to ensure they get through this tough time. That is what Canadians know. They know they need a government that believes in them and their capacity, and that empowers them to reach their full potential. That is why, in the last election, they chose the Liberal government.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister loves self-congratulations, but I have a simple message for her: It is not working. Canadians are not working because Liberal policies are not working. It is simply in the numbers. We have the second-highest unemployment rate in the G7. We have effectively lost over 100,000 jobs in the last month. Youth unemployment is at its worst level in 25 years. EI claims among working-age women just jumped by 12%.

Regardless of the Liberals' intentions, the facts show that their policies are not working. When will they change course?

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Mr. Speaker, we are not going to accept lectures from that side of the House when the record is crystal clear. Under the last Conservative government, Canada lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs.

It will not on our watch. That is why we are building major projects that are going to create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs right across the country. We are building affordable homes at a scale that we have not seen. We are creating good union jobs and investing in skills training.

Canadians chose a government that is going to move forward on these proposals. That is what we are going to do.

Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, last week it was revealed that Canada's budget deficit under the Liberal government is expected to increase to more than $68 billion, a result of billions more in inflationary spending with no plan whatsoever to pay it back. On top of this, the Prime Minister is now planning to borrow another quarter of a trillion dollars over the next four years, almost double what Justin Trudeau was planning. There is no plan for balanced budgets and no sign of fiscal restraint.

When will the Liberals stop mortgaging our future and get Liberal spending under control?

[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, I know that the Conservative leader must be a little insecure about the size of his economic credentials, or lack thereof. I recognize that he will not listen to a former Bank of Canada governor, but maybe he will try listening to the current one.

Last week, the Governor of the Bank of Canada said that our government's plan to diversify trade and invest in large-scale infrastructure is going to help encourage businesses to take risks and would help boost productivity and growth. He said that productivity gains and the higher real incomes that come with them are “the only way to make everything more affordable”.

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

Mr. Speaker, $1 billion every single week is how much taxpayer money this government is wasting paying interest on the debt. We are now spending more in interest payments than we are on our entire health care system, the result of Liberal governments borrowing more money over the past 10 years than every other government in the history of this country combined. Now they want to borrow billions more.

When will the Prime Minister stop looking out for the big banks that lend the money and start looking out for the next generation of Canadians he is sticking with the bill?

[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, we know that Canada has the lowest effective tariff rate of any country in the world. We have a great, AAA credit rating and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio.

We cannot help it that the opposition and the opposition leader have no vision for the future of the Canadian economy. It is clear that Canadians understand who does have a vision for the Canadian economy. That is why they voted for this party to run the government. We have cut taxes and moved forward on the first round of major nation-building projects. What did the Conservatives say when we launched major projects worth—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Compton—Stanstead.

Canada Post Corporation

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government recently announced measures to mitigate the financial crisis at Canada Post, which is losing $10 million a day. Those measures include lifting the moratorium on rural post offices.

I want to remind members of the critical role that these post offices play in rural communities by maintaining services and social ties. In my riding, municipalities like Compton, Stanstead, North Hatley and Chartierville are currently subject to the moratorium.

Can the government's Minister of Transformation reassure the people in my riding that essential services in the regions will continue and that steps will be taken to ensure that rural residents are not left behind?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her question and for all the groundwork she did to help the government transform Canada Post while ensuring that services in remote rural communities would continue. That is essential.

The objective is to give more flexibility to suburban and urban communities that are covered by the moratorium. We certainly do not want services in rural communities to be impacted. That is why I have asked Canada Post to come up with a plan to maintain these services in the regions, in my colleague's riding and in all rural ridings across the country.

We also have an accommodation program for seniors to ensure that people with limited mobility can get their mail. That is essential.

Justice

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have unleashed crime and chaos on our streets. Bill C-75 said that repeat offenders need to be released at the earliest possible occasion on the least onerous conditions. Just this week in Kelowna, it was reported that 15 offenders were responsible for over 1,300 police calls. The Liberals promised we would get bail reform. We have seen nothing. Talk about a bait and switch.

Conservatives have a common-sense plan to scrap Liberal bail reform. Will the Liberals get behind us or let us do it for ourselves, yes or no?

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we have said it time and time again: The Minister of Justice will be introducing bail reform legislation this fall. We hope that if the Conservatives are really serious about doing the work, they will support this new legislation.

Let me remind the member opposite that the reality is this: In former Bill C-75, we strengthened Canada's response by defining “intimate partner violence” in the Criminal Code and created a reverse onus for repeat IPV offenders.

Canadians deserve a debate based on the facts. If the Conservatives want to repeal a bill that makes it harder for IPV offenders to get bail, they should do so and face the backlash from Canadians.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the minister just said that. I just tabled a bill that would protect Canadians and victims of intimate partner violence. Instead of debating it next week, Liberals should vote for it right away.

So many Canadians have realized that the Liberals have broken their promise. They say what they are going to do. Why do they say what they are going to do? It is because they have not done anything. They have done jack squat when it comes to bail. They want to consult. They should read the newspapers.

Liberals need to get out of the way or support Bill C-242 so that we can get rid of Liberal bail. Will the Liberals support us, yes or no?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows full well that we have important, crime-fighting legislation before Parliament. He should get behind Bill C-2, the strong borders act. Just as my colleague indicated, we will be inviting him to get behind bail reform and measures to prevent intimate partner violence.

The problem with Conservative legislation is that it always ends at the Supreme Court. It gets struck down and laughed out of court because it is against the Constitution, against Canadian values and against the things we hold dear in terms of managing the justice system.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, Kamloops—Shuswap—Central Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal bail law, Bill C-75, unleashed crime and chaos on our streets, releasing violent criminals at the earliest opportunity. While out on bail in Kelowna, a man convicted on domestic violence charges just hours before allegedly killed Bailey McCourt with a hammer. The Prime Minister promised Liberals would flip-flop on bail, but the Liberal laws are still in place six months after he took power.

Will the Prime Minister scrap Liberal bail or get out of the way so Conservatives can get it done?

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

Mr. Speaker, allow me to offer my condolences to the victim's family. We strongly condemn such actions and, above all, we want to keep them from happening again.

We are going to reform the bail system. It is coming. It is just around the corner. The Conservatives are dwelling on this issue, but there is no need. The legislation is coming.

We will also ensure that there are harsher sentences for repeat and violent offenders. We are going to hire 1,000 more people for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and put 1,000 more people at the border. We are going to limit imports of illegal weapons—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Montmorency—Charlevoix.

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has long been a country where families could walk the streets in peace, a country where people could get a coffee, go to the grocery store, go to the gym or even go out on the town without fearing for their lives.

However, after 10 years of Liberal attacks on our justice system, our country is becoming increasingly violent. There has been a 55% increase in violent crime, a 30% increase in homicides, a 76% increase in sexual assaults, and so on. Canadians no longer recognize this country, which once had strong laws, a serious criminal justice system, and harsh sentences.

Do the Liberals realize that they have failed to protect our people?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are taking plenty of measures to counter these events.

I would like to take this opportunity to address a few words to the family of Denis Blanchette and to Pauline Marois, former premier of Quebec. Having served as coroner during the Metropolis attack, I can finally tell them that we will be collecting the CZ 858, the weapon used by Richard Henry Bain at the Metropolis. I hope this will be some small consolation to them after all the anxiety and grief they have endured.

Canadians' safety will always be our top priority.

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, governing means looking ahead. Well, when it comes to justice, the Liberal government is not looking ahead very much. Its soft-on-crime laws allow the same violent criminals to be released over and over again.

When an individual is arrested 30 times, violates his conditions more than 15 times and is charged with domestic violence six times, no one should be surprised when irreparable harm is done. That is exactly what happened in Saint-Jérôme. The Liberals' soft-on-crime policies cost Gabie Renaud her life.

When will the Prime Minister realize that his policies have failed?

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

Mr. Speaker, my thoughts are with Gabie Renaud's family and loved ones during this painful time. No one should have to experience such a tragedy.

Gender-based violence simply has no place in Canada. We will soon be introducing legislation to make it harder for violent offenders to get bail. We are going to make hate-motivated murder, including femicide, a first-degree murder offence.

We will always stand with victims.