Debates of Nov. 24th, 2025

Ethics

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the highest office in government must be transparent and beyond reproach. Doubt will remain as long as the Prime Minister is both a shareholder and decision-maker. For example, in October 2024, the Prime Minister helped to relocate Brookfield's head office from Toronto to New York. Seven months later, at the G7, he announced that U.S.-based companies would no longer have to pay the global minimum tax of 15% aimed at countering tax evasion.

How much money did the Prime Minister save Brookfield and how much did he cost the public purse?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister follows one of the strictest codes of ethics in the world. He is not doing anything for Brookfield.

Steel and Aluminum Industry

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election campaign, the Prime Minister boasted about being a great negotiator and said he would settle the tariffs by July 21. Today is November 24. Negotiations have stalled. Worse still, when asked if there had been any new discussions, he replied that he did not care and that there was no urgency. The aluminum workers, however, do care.

Will the Prime Minister be able to look them in the eyes and tell them that their jobs are not important?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade]

Mr. Speaker, again, our colleague knows full well that the government is very interested in taking every measure step to protect the aluminum industry, the workers in that industry and the other industries that were just mentioned. He knows full well that President Trump is the one who decided to suspend the negotiations that, to us and to the American side, were on track to bringing Canada and the United States to an agreement that would have been in the best interests of these workers.

As long as the Americans do not want to negotiate, we will be there to protect the industries affected.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since this Prime Minister took office, not only are aluminum tariffs still in place, but they have doubled. He seems to forget that Quebec produces 90% of all Canadian aluminum. In my region of Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, that means 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. Those workers need that income to pay for housing and food.

How can the Prime Minister not care?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, we are maintaining countertariffs on steel and aluminum. We have the $5-billion strategic response fund. We also have the buy Canadian procurement policy, through which we are supporting our businesses by requiring the use of Canadian steel and aluminum in domestic projects across the country.

We hope the opposition will support us on these issues. We are counting on it.

[Ned Kuruc, Conservative, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister was asked this weekend whether he had spoken to Trump about trade, his response was, “Who cares?” He said it was not a “burning issue”.

Well, I can tell members who cares. Conservatives care, and so do the thousands of Hamilton steelworkers and manufacturing workers who go to bed every night wondering if they will have a job in the morning. How can the Prime Minister look Hamilton steelworkers in the eye and tell them their job security is not a burning issue?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think the steelworkers would be pretty disappointed if they knew that this Conservative member of Parliament keeps fighting against the very measures the government is putting in place to save our steel sector.

I was at Algoma Steel just a few months ago, working with that company and its workers to make sure the company has liquidity so that it can find new markets, protect those jobs and ensure its workers are trained and attached to the workforce. These are concepts that the Conservatives cannot even understand, because they keep voting against the very people who sent them here.

[Ned Kuruc, Conservative, Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is a 30-second admission of guilt and failure by the current government. A response of “Who cares?” is a terrible attempt to downplay how important a trade deal is for Canadian steel and manufacturing. The steelworkers of Hamilton want an answer.

They want a deal, a deal that would give them job security, pay their bills and feed their families; this deal was promised to them on July 21. On behalf of the Canadian steel and manufacturing workers, when will the Prime Minister deliver on his promise and get a deal done?

[John Zerucelli, Liberal, Secretary of State (Labour)]

Mr. Speaker I met with workers from Ingersoll and forestry workers in B.C., and I have met with steelworkers in that member's riding. Our message is consistent: We will be there for workers, and we will be there for their families.

Why did the member vote against the budget? The budget would provide supports for all these industries, but the Conservatives like to come in here and perform for the camera while we are doing the work. We are going to defend our country.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals think Canadians should be satisfied with begging for scraps from their table. The Prime Minister said he would be a master negotiator. He said he would get a deal with Trump done by July 21. He failed. Now he says, “Who cares?” and that there is no “burning issue”.

Well, Conservatives care, and so do the members of USW 5890. They are the hard-working men at Interpro Pipe and Steel in Regina, and they care about their jobs. How can the Prime Minister look them in the eye and say the jobs that feed their family are not a burning issue?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are going to defend our workers by having a $5-billion strategic response fund. That party voted against this. We are going to defend our workers by having a buy Canadian policy, the most ambitious buy Canadian policy on record. That party opposed this. We are always going to be there for our workers. Is that party going to be on their side?

International Trade

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians support our efforts to diversify Canadian trade. That is why our government is on a mission to double non-U.S. exports over the next decade and to unleash $1 trillion in new investments in Canada. Every door the Prime Minister opens means more opportunities for the businesses in my riding to reach new markets, grow their business and create jobs in Sudbury.

Can the Minister of International Trade update Canadians on the landmark investments delivered by the Prime Minister and say why leadership on the world stage matters?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sudbury for her tireless work. While the Canada-U.A.E. investment agreement began in 2014, this government finished it in just months, leading to our Prime Minister's securing the single largest investment commitment of $70 billion.

We are now elevating our relationship by negotiating a trade deal to cut tariffs, remove red tape and boost Canadian exports to the U.A.E. We are building new international relationships to grow trade and attract investments to build the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

The Economy

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, every dollar the Prime Minister spends comes out of the pockets of Canadians, driving up the cost of everything. Food inflation on baby formula is up 84% in eight years. Formula is one of the top stolen food products in Canada, and it is now kept under lock and key in many places in Canada.

I heard from Cyara, a Manitoba mom, who knew she was buying stolen baby formula but did it anyway because she had no other choice. Does the Prime Minister care that parents cannot afford to buy baby formula?

[Anna Gainey, Liberal, Secretary of State (Children and Youth)]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we have taken and are taking action to fight food insecurity. This is why, among other measures, we are making the national school food program permanent to ensure more children have access to healthy meals at school. This also represents over $800 in savings on families' grocery bills. We introduced a middle-class tax cut. We introduced dental care. We have early learning and child care arrangements with provinces across the country, bringing costs down by thousands of dollars. We are there for families.

I would encourage the members opposite to support these measures as well.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, babies do not go to school.

The Liberals do not even listen. This is about baby formula, not school food.

The Liberal programs are not working, and they are making it worse. Families are switching to cow milk and solids earlier than doctors recommend because they have no other choice. They cannot afford baby formula, and they do not want their children to starve under the Liberal policies.

Does the Prime Minister care that families are making tough choices because the Liberals refuse to act?

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

Mr. Speaker, this government is investing in infants and children of all ages. Not only did we create the Canada child benefit, but families received it last week. We also committed to $10-a-day child care spaces across the country. Parents in my riding are saving over $10,000 a year for their kids. However, members should not take my word for it.

Let me tell the House about what a parent said at Andrew Fleck Children's Services: “We've been able to have healthier meals at home and start saving for post-secondary education with early learning and child care. Without this extra funding, it would have been impossible to survive and live in our current house”.

This is the difference—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Cambridge.

Carbon Pricing

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is the costliest in Canadian history, and hard-working families are paying the price. In my community, people tell me they are working hard and saving up, but they are still walking out of the grocery store with half a cart for twice the price. Demand at the Cambridge Food Bank is up 114%, and 1,000 new families are turning to it for the first time. The culprit is simple. It is the Liberal industrial carbon tax on farmers and fertilizer that gets baked into every loaf of bread and every slice of meat on the shelves.

Why is the Prime Minister insisting on not only keeping the industrial carbon tax but also raising it when Canadians already cannot afford to feed their kids?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are back to the imaginary taxes again. There is no tax on food. Farms are largely, if not totally, exempt from the industrial carbon tax. Even their favourite Twitter guy, the food professor, says there is no incidence on food prices from the matters the member mentions.

I would invite her to correct herself.

The Economy

[Connie Cody, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the best program is a well-paying job with low inflation, yet after 10 years of Liberal government, Canadians have neither. The same government that created this mess now wants applause for pretending to fix it, but more government and more taxes only mean more inflation for Canadians. Food prices have climbed nearly 40% faster here than in the U.S. and faster than wages can keep up. Four out of five Canadians say food is their biggest budget stress, and 30% are now forced to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families. The Prime Minister refuses to listen and keeps hiking inflationary taxes that send people to the food bank.

Why is the Prime Minister forcing Canadians to choose between going cold and going hungry?

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

Mr. Speaker, perhaps a better question is why the Conservatives keep on pointing to imaginary taxes as they go forward.

Let us be clear: There is no food packaging tax. I have said it before, but I will say it again: There is no food packaging tax. Beyond that, the industrial carbon price does not add to the cost of food. Study after study has been done and proves that point.

If the Conservatives want to support Canadians, I hope they will support the programs we put forth, and I hope they will fight climate change, because that is actually one of the major causes of the increased cost of food.

[Jonathan Rowe, Conservative, Terra Nova—The Peninsulas, NL]

Mr. Speaker, every dollar the Prime Minister spends is either taxed from the pockets of Canadians or comes from printed and borrowed money, driving up inflation and the cost of everything in Canada. In P.E.I., university food bank usage is up 60%. It is the same old story right across Atlantic Canada, yet the Prime Minister is refusing to scrap his costly regulations, which only make it more expensive to fish, farm and ship our food.

Why is the Prime Minister increasing the industrial carbon tax, increasing the fuel tax and making it even more expensive for Canadians?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I was in my riding last weekend, and I spent time at a school in the riding. I served food—