Debates of Nov. 19th, 2025

The Economy

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is the most expensive in Canadian history. Every dollar the Prime Minister spends comes out of the pockets of Canadians, driving up the cost of everything. Year after year, food costs have gone up and the Liberals want us to pay more for their food packaging taxes. The Liberal tax on food costs Canadians an additional $5.6 billion a year, driving up the cost for fresh produce by over 34%.

Why is the Prime Minister keeping the food packaging tax and making everything more expensive for struggling Canadians?

[Buckley Belanger, Liberal, Secretary of State (Rural Development)]

Mr. Speaker, for 10 long years, I have been telling the people of Saskatchewan that, as a result of the mismanagement under Stephen Harper, the government has spent these years cleaning up Harper's mess so we can go on a bold new journey.

There is $51 billion set aside to help Canada build its communities. That is an impressive amount of money. The Saskatchewan MP should wake up, vote for the budget and back up Saskatchewan.

Carbon Pricing

[Dalwinder Gill, Conservative, Calgary McKnight, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is the most expensive in Canadian history. Every dollar the Prime Minister spends comes out of the pockets of Canadians, driving up the cost of everything.

The Prime Minister told Canadians to judge him by the prices they see at our grocery stores. Now, the industrial carbon tax has caused food prices in Canada to rise nearly 40% faster than in the U.S.

Why is the Prime Minister increasing the industrial carbon tax and making food more expensive?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)]

Mr. Speaker, in budget 2025, we are making generational investments to build Canada strong.

Again, we have cut taxes for 22 million Canadians. This is making sure we put more money back into their pockets.

We are also supporting our young people. We have created new pathways to support them. This is 175,000 jobs for young people through the Canada summer jobs and student work placement programs. We are empowering youth to gain the skills they need.

We are going to continue to build Canada strong and support our youth in this country.

Natural Resources

[Parm Bains, Liberal, Richmond East—Steveston, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last spring, my hometown of Richmond voted for a government that would develop clean, reliable electricity to power our economy. In British Columbia, the north coast transmission line has just been referred to the Major Projects Office. It will twin key transmission corridors, reinforce B.C.'s clean grid in the northwest and support industry while connecting communities.

Can the minister explain how this project will support B.C. jobs and lower emissions while helping Canada realize its potential as a critical mineral producer and clean energy superpower?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the north coast transmission line is exactly the kind of enabling infrastructure Canada needs to get to net zero, become a clean energy superpower and diversify our exports. Once in operation, it is expected to support thousands of direct jobs and help avoid up to three million tonnes of carbon emissions every year. By unlocking our vast natural resources and powering new industries with low-carbon electricity, we are giving workers and communities what they want.

Public Safety

[Sukhman Gill, Conservative, Abbotsford—South Langley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Abbotsford residents woke to the news of yet another shooting linked to extortion in our communities. Far too many families and businesses across the region have been affected. Under the Liberal's soft-on-crime policies, extortion has risen over 500% in B.C. alone. In my community, 100 shootings have been linked to extortion.

Why do the Liberals block our request for an emergency debate? When will the Prime Minister finally get serious about extortion?

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Secretary of State (Combatting Crime)]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the Liberals did not block any kind of debate, as the member is well aware. The Speaker made that ruling yesterday.

Second, the best thing to stop extortion is deterrence. If criminals knew they would be caught, they would not be involved in such crimes. One way to deter criminals is to make sure we give police officers the tools they need to be able to catch them.

We have brought lawful access measures in Bill C-2 in the House. Guess who is blocking them? The Conservatives are. They will not allow the police to have the tools needed to catch these criminals.

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

Mr. Speaker, since the Liberals took power, extortion is up 330% in Canada. There have been 100 reported extortions already in Surrey, Abbotsford and Delta. The Prime Minister recently visited British Columbia, and he said nothing about this pressing problem.

The question is this: Why are these Liberals allowing extortions to run rampant, whether it be in Calgary, Windsor, Surrey or Brampton? Why?

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

Mr. Speaker, the House has before it measures, contained in Bill C-2, that would give the police long-requested abilities to prevent extortion and to catch extortionists and criminals in our country. The Conservatives, and the Conservatives alone, stood in the way of those particular measures, demanding their removal from Bill C-2.

That member needs to talk to his whip, talk to his leader, and get out of the way of law enforcement to stop extortion in this country. That member needs to stand for law and order.

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

Mr. Speaker, talk is cheap. Actions speak louder than words. That minister needs to look in the mirror.

That member voted against a Conservative bill to put extortionists in jail. That member voted for house arrest for people who do extortion with a firearm. That member voted to repeal mandatory jail time for extortion with a firearm. Talk about being out of touch. Talk about missing the boat on justice.

When will the Liberals get on board and tackle extortion across this country? When?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our government is taking real action to stop those who commit extortion. The Conservatives, on the other hand, have failed to support these measures, such as lawful access, a measure that every single law enforcement agency and every single police association have been asking for. They have been asking the Conservative Party to step up to ensure that Bill C-2, with lawful access, is passed.

I urge the member opposite, who is my critic, to step forward today to ensure that lawful access becomes law.

Housing

[Michael Coteau, Liberal, Scarborough—Woburn, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians and the great people of Scarborough—Woburn voted for a government to build more homes, and they are looking to their new federal government to lead with real solutions.

Could the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure update the House on what concrete steps the government is taking to accelerate the building of affordable homes here in Ontario?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Scarborough—Woburn for all of his hard work.

We are committed to delivering a massive increase in affordable housing, starting in the GTA and all across Canada. Just last week, we made generational investments across the country to create more than 3,000 homes across Canada for Canadians, and that includes over 1,500 much-needed homes in Ontario. Those homes will give local families an opportunity to be more stable and have affordable places to live.

It is time to build Canada strong.

Firearms

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the $742-million gun grab has been a complete disaster from day one. It is wrapped in controversy, with leaked audio revealing that the public safety minister himself admitted that it will not work.

The Cape Breton pilot program reportedly only had 22 firearms turned in. Now, the police chief overseeing the program, who is the brother-in-law of the Liberal member, is suddenly retiring. Will the Liberals finally admit that the program is a waste of taxpayers' money, admit that it has failed, and scrap it?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, apart from partisan politics, this member, who is from my province of Newfoundland and Labrador, voted against a budget that invests in Canada and invests in our province. She voted against 46,000 families who will see an increase in the Canada child benefit, families who rely on the food—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

There is way too much loud heckling, and we cannot hear the minister. Sometimes we cannot even hear the members of the colleagues' own party.

The Minister of Fisheries can start from the top, please.

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, instead of playing partisan politics, let us focus on Canadians.

The member opposite from Newfoundland and Labrador voted against a budget that invests in Canada; invests in our province in rural communities, roads, bridges, schools and hospitals; and invests in families with the school nutrition program's $800 savings a year for a family with two children. There is the family benefit that 46,000 families rely on, and there is an increase.

Shame on the member.

Taxation

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it has been said, “Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value."

The Liberal budget chose to slash public services and cut frontline jobs, but it eliminated a tax on luxury yachts and private jets. To cover this blatant gift to the rich, the finance minister claimed that the tax cost more to administer than it raised, but that is not true; the luxury tax brought in 20 times what it cost, raising hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

What value should Canadians take from the Liberals' choice?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague, but I think he should call Lana Payne, the head of Unifor, which represents the Bombardier workers in Montreal. That is because, following the fact that we changed the tax regime on that particular aspect linked to jets, Bombardier announced 600 new jobs in Montreal and Quebec.

Obviously, like the NDP, we are in favour of unionized jobs, we are in favour of creating jobs and we will fight for these ones.

Indigenous Affairs

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 32(2), I have the honour to table two reports in both official languages.

The first is copies of the 2022-23 “Annual Report on the State of Inuit Culture and Society: Policing”.

The second is copies of the Yukon land claims and self-government agreement implementation report for 2017 to 2022.

I request that both reports be referred to the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs.

Foreign Affairs

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages and to the Secretary of State (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) and consistent with the policy on the tabling of reports in Parliament, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, Canada's combined second and third reports on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities dated November 7, 2022, including the 2025 concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Government Response to Petitions

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

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to four petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.

Interparliamentary Delegations

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, reports of the Canadian Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association for the following activities: the CPA Executive Committee Meeting held in London, United Kingdom, from May 12 to 13, 2025; the Belize National Assembly Post-Election Seminar held in Belmopan, Belize, from June 4 to 6, 2025; and the 68th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference held in Bridgetown, Barbados, from October 5 to 12, 2025.