Debates of Nov. 20th, 2025

Climate Change

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister was ignoring COP to meet with sultans in Abu Dhabi, Canada was receiving a barrage of criticism. Two thousand organizations from around the world gave Canada the fossil of the day award for backtracking in the fight against climate change.

Canada is a world champion of pollution. Oddly enough, the last time Canada received the fossil award was in 2014. The Canadian prime minister at the time, Stephen Harper, also ignored COP.

Is that a coincidence or are the Liberals setting us back 10 years?

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

Mr. Speaker, the United Arab Emirates is one of the world's largest investors in renewable energy.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is in good company having brushed off the COP summit to meet with oil monarchies, because Canada is an oil monarchy. That is its identity. It received a fossil award at COP, just like the oil monarchies. It ranks 61 out of 67 countries in the climate performance index, alongside the oil monarchies.

Today, the Liberals want to take another step backward. They want to reach an agreement with Alberta to build a new dirty oil pipeline. That is the Canadian identity. The Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture did not defend this before. How can he defend it now?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I went to COP. I had meetings with countries and environmental organizations. They told us that Canada has an important role to play in the fight against climate change, that Canada can be a unifying force for all countries.

Not only that, but when we build our country strong, we work with other countries that want our cleaner energy.

We have clean energy to sell, and we are ready to make those commitments.

Finance

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in 2006, the Harper government saw the need for an independent parliamentary fiscal watchdog, and boy was it right. In his budget brief last week, the PBO reminded the Prime Minister of the Liberals' own words just last November that reducing the federal debt-to-GDP ratio over the medium term is “key not only for fiscal sustainability, but also to preserve Canada's AAA credit rating”. Well, it is less than a year later and the alarm bells are ringing.

How many more times does the Prime Minister need to be reminded to rein in his spending of taxpayers' dollars?

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

Mr. Speaker, earlier today in the chamber, the member for Calgary Midnapore said that the Prime Minister's loyalty was not to Canada or to Canadians. That is a direct quote. I would invite her to retract that statement at this very time.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's costly credit card budget loads reckless spending today on tomorrow's taxpayers, something an economist should know. After—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Order.

The hon. member for Calgary Midnapore may continue.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's loyalties are to Brookfield.

The Prime Minister's costly credit card budget loads reckless spending today onto tomorrow's taxpayers, something an economist should know. After 10 years of the Liberals, Canadians are being forced to put nearly 50% more of their personal expenses on credit cards, a result of Liberal financial failures. Fitch Ratings has warned that because the Liberals are ignoring their own fiscal—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. government House leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not think debate in the chamber is served by challenging a Prime Minister who has stood up for public service in Canada, challenging his patriotism or his service to his country. I know that member does not believe those things. I would invite her to restrain her comments with respect to the Prime Minister's feelings about the country and about the people that he serves.

I would once again invite her to retract those comments.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of reckless spending by the Liberals, Canadians have been forced to put 50% more of their expenses on credit cards since 2015. It is so bad that the budget watchdog has condemned the Liberal spending, saying it is “unsustainable” and “shocking”.

When will the Prime Minister finally put an end to his out-of-control spending spree so that Canadians can put food on their table?

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, on one side of the House, we have continued tired old rhetoric, the same questions that question a Prime Minister with world-class business and economic experience, versus a leader from the Conservatives who has been in the House for 20 years and has not had a job outside the House.

On this side of the House, we are focused on building a strong economy. We are focused on making historic investments in infrastructure, defence, housing and transportation. On this side, we are serious about the economy. They continue with the same old, tired rhetoric.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the minister should be tired of having a reckless record when it comes to the CRA. He should fix the CRA before he fixes anything else. The agency that gives the government its credit score says that since the Liberal government frequently ignores its fiscal anchors, the federal finances face a high risk of further deterioration.

I have a simple question for the Prime Minister: When will he take his job seriously and get Canada's finances back on track so that Canadians can afford a life?

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, on April 28, Canadians had a choice to make between two visions for the country. One was a vision of slogans and divisiveness. On this side, our Prime Minister, with world-class business and economic experience, had a plan to build our country, to invest in our country and to build a country by Canadians and for Canadians.

On this side of the House, we are serious about building a stronger Canada, a Canada for everyone. That side is not.

Innovation, Science and Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, a Prime Minister who describes himself as a European is giving $500 million to the European Space Agency to create good jobs in Europe. It gets worse. The Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, where the European Space Agency is located in the U.K., is 50% owned by Brookfield.

Rather than focusing on lining the pockets of Brookfield and ripping off Canadian workers, why do they not invest in Canada?

[Karim Bardeesy, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is unfortunate that the other side does not recognize the key role that space investments play in our country and in our nation's innovations, especially in a critical year for space for Canada, when we are sending not one, but two astronauts into space.

This is an incredibly exciting time for Canada and Canadians to be inspired by the potential of space and space in our economy. I hope the other side reconsiders their opposition to this.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is an incredibly exciting time if a person is a shareholder in Brookfield right now, let me say that, with all the slimy contracts that these guys are giving to companies affiliated with Brookfield. Meanwhile, we have 2.2 million Canadians lining up at food banks; we have a 6.9% unemployment rate. What did the government decide to do? They are investing $500 million to give jobs to Europe.

How can it be a priority of the government to give jobs to Europeans when there is 6.9% unemployment in Canada and 2.2 million people using a food bank? Justify that.

[Karim Bardeesy, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the most innovative things we can do as a country, we often do them together and with other countries. For instance, a former member of this House, a former minister in the former government, the late Hon. Marc Garneau, went on an American spacecraft. There is a key piece of Canadian technology that was deployed as part of that, the Canadarm. It is a piece of technology we should all be proud of, on both sides of this House.

As we continue to co-operate with our European partners on this, let us see the bigger picture and see how benefits can come to Canada with this investment.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the past 10 years since the Liberals came to power, the bureaucracy has grown by 80%. Unfortunately, the quality of public services has not kept pace. Today, the TVA program J.E. reported that 950,000 calls were made to the Canada Revenue Agency because Canadians could not access its online services. That is the reality after 10 years of Liberal governance.

This is true in my riding, and I am sure that it is true in the constituency offices of every member in the House. Every week, there are dozens of calls from constituents who are having problems with the CRA. That is the reality after 10 years.

Why have the Liberals let public services crumble?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that the situation at the Canada Revenue Agency was unacceptable. Our government is acting quickly to provide Canadians with fast, efficient and reliable service. The plan is working. They can yell all they want, but the plan is working.

We have doubled the capacity of call centres. Now, 70% of Canadians get an answer within 15 minutes, and all Canadians can access online services without having to call the CRA. That is good news. The plan is working.

Canadian Identity and Culture

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture is showing a complete disregard for Quebec's private broadcasters and their workers. Québecor has shed 800 jobs, but the minister is standing idly by. Cogeco Media and Bell Media have asked for help, but the minister is not lifting a finger. He is as indifferent to the media crisis as the Prime Minister is to the climate crisis.

Does the minister realize that his indifference and his stubborn refusal to support private broadcasters is making the media crisis worse?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my Bloc Québécois colleague, but the Bloc is acting like a pyromaniac firefighter on this issue. First, it is sounding the fire alarm and then it is adding fuel to the fire.

The Bloc Québécois voted against a budget that would invest $38 million in local media and $150 million in CBC/Radio-Canada. That would help our media outlets across the country and help the production of local culture in Quebec and across the country. They voted against that.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is a rather odd analogy coming from a former environmentalist.

The government has just abolished the digital services tax, which could have financed a fund to support a diversity of information sources and Quebec culture. The government is doing nothing for private broadcasters. When questioned, it says that it is funding the public sector, as if the entire broadcasting system is public, and too bad for the private sector. This prompted columnist Yasmine Adelfadel to say that the minister is insulting the TVA workers who lost their jobs.

What do we need to say to the minister to get him to take action for our private broadcasters?