Debates of June 4th, 2025

Resumption of Debate on Address in Reply

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate many of the member's words, even at times when I disagree with her, such as on the whole pipeline issue.

I am interested in a couple of other thoughts. There is renewable energy, such as Manitoba hydro. Quebec has hydro, and B.C. has hydro development, and it is great to see the potential that is there. What I am interested in is the member's comments on nuclear power. Does the Green Party have a position on nuclear power? I know that many of my colleagues and I are very much open to and actually promoting it because it has so much value here in Canada and because there is also the potential of exporting that sort of expertise abroad.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not an ideological position. We approach this way for every kind of energy source: For the dollar invested, how much carbon is reduced, how many jobs are created, and how long does it take from the decision that has been made until we see the energy produced? The reality is, on that measurement, that the top-notch winner is energy efficiency, then renewables. Nuclear is at the bottom of the pile.

One last thing is this: With the nuclear proponents right now, it is like a witness protection program. They changed the name, but it is SNC-Lavalin behind every SMR proposal. Its name is now AtkinsRéalis, and it stays under the screen that it is the biggest shareholder in Canadian nuclear laboratories, which makes it sound legit. It is a scam.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would also like to carry on with a question about nuclear, because we know that in the last Parliament, the Liberals actually proclaimed that nuclear was a sin and categorized it as a sin stock, which included many other vice stocks in the mind of government. The government changed the credit system, and nuclear companies could not have access, because they were characterized as a sin. This was as recently as three years ago.

I just want to get the speaker's comments. Do you think the Liberals are telling the truth now or when they were declaring nuclear a sin?

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Before the member responds, I will say that the Speaker will not be responding, but the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands will.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, to defend my friend from Saskatoon—University, I think he meant the last person speaking.

However, I will proceed to say that the Liberal Party of Canada has been the biggest promoter of nuclear energy ever since Pierre Trudeau. It has never stopped shovelling money toward it.

I enjoyed my time briefly working with leaders in the Reform Party, who called former prime minister Jean Chrétien “radioactive man”. That was back in the days of Deb Grey and a number of other fun friends in the Reform Party. They wanted to figure out whether there was a business case behind this or whether it was just shovelling money into something called AECL that would take endless billions of dollars and not produce a product that other countries want to buy from us.

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot—Acton, QC]

Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your new title and your new seat. I hope you are enjoying your time in the chair.

My colleague talked about the government's intentions with regard to reducing greenhouse gases. First, I would like to know if she believes it. I would also like to hear her thoughts on how these objectives square with all the talk about building this pipeline.

Does my colleague believe in the pipe dream of green oil that has been so popular in the petroleum industry over the past few years?

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not a pipe dream. It is getting to be a bit of a joke, but it is not funny.

The reality is that we have programs to reduce greenhouse gases, but there are no longer any at the federal level. Good programs exist, particularly in the province of Quebec, which plays an important role in global alliances against fossil fuels. When I attended UN conferences, the one thing that made me proud to be a Canadian was the role that the province of Quebec played in those partnerships.

This new government might change its approach. It must do so, because time is running out. It is not too late.

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak today. I will be sharing my time with the member for Willowdale.

First, I would like to congratulate all members of the House. As they say, there is not a bad seat in the House of Commons, so congratulations. We have a lot of work to do. Welcome to the 45th session of Parliament.

I just reminded myself that throughout our political careers, we should never lose sight of the fact that it took a lot of people to get each and every one of us here. We should never forget where we came from and who helped us get here.

I have been elected for 22 years. I started off as a school board trustee and then was a provincial member. This is my second term in the House of Commons.

I want to thank the people of Scarborough—Woburn for putting their faith behind me and supporting me during the election. I want to thank volunteers. We had a lot of volunteers, hundreds, who came out for the campaign. I thank, of course, my team at the constituency office. Without them, it would be very difficult for me to do my job. I thank my campaign manager and CFO and the entire team. Of course, I also thank my family: my wife Lori and my daughters Maren and Myla.

Again, I thank the people of Scarborough—Woburn. I appreciate that they have put their faith in me.

If members were in Ottawa last week, or anywhere in the country, actually, they may have noticed that something special happened. We had a throne speech and the King came to deliver that speech. It was a pretty big deal. I thought it was a fabulous speech.

One of the pieces that really resonated with me was the King's position and words on democracy, as reflected through, of course, the government's position. He talked about democracy in the world and how everything is shifting. We have found ourselves at a place where the world is shifting and where there is more division and uncertainty.

Canada is not immune to that. We are feeling pressure. We feel our economy being challenged, as well as our safety and way of life. Global trade is being redefined. At home, we are struggling with the threat of tariffs, which compromise industry and make life more expensive for people overall.

We are seeing threats toward our democracy. I want to talk a lot about democracy today. We see the changes taking place around the globe, with attempts to overturn elections; democratic backsliding with governments weakening courts, media freedoms and civil liberties; and crackdowns on opposition and the free press. There is a lot happening in this country and a lot happening around the world, and Canada is not immune to the challenges that democracy faces.

In Canada, we have a strong democracy, but we need to pay attention to the challenges we are facing. We have seen the rise over the last little while of polarization and extremism in this country, with increased hostility, misinformation, divisive rhetoric and an erosion of respectful democratic discourse; foreign interference, which we are all concerned about; online disinformation; and an increase in hate. We have seen a massive increase in hate, and we as Canadians should not tolerate that.

Even during the campaign, I saw many different types of interference. Hundreds of my signs were destroyed. Pieces of literature were being distributed, which I am sure folks saw, with disinformation about churches and other religious institutions having their charitable status removed. There was misinformation about the sale of homes and capital gains, even to the point where letterhead was being manipulated showing positions by governments and parties that were not real. We have had politicians decide not to run because of the threats they have felt, and the media and reporters have talked about this as well.

One thing that always fascinates me about democracy is who shows up to vote. We know that there has been a statistical decline historically in voter participation. The good news is that in this election, the numbers increased compared to the election in 2021, but we are seeing a decrease compared to the period from post-World War II to the 1980s, when we saw about 75%. In 2008, the lowest numbers came forward, at 58%, and in the recent election in 2015, we saw 68.3%. We are seeing an increase right now, but traditionally over the last 30 to 40 years, we have seen a decline.

Democracy matters in this country. Democracy is what keeps our country moving forward and is going to be our pathway forward to strengthen the relationship of all Canadians. I am a big supporter of the preservation and promotion of democracy because it gives people a voice. When a good democratic institution is working, people feel like their voice is being reflected in it. Democracy protects our freedoms. The freedom of speech, the right to vote, the freedom of the press and the right to protest are not just ideals; they are foundations to a strong democracy.

Democracy creates space for change, which is really important, especially in a time like now when as Canadians we need to make sure there is space for discussions and respectful discourse. Then at the end of the day, we can bring forward the type of change necessary.

Democracy also keeps our government leaders accountable. It is so important because it allows us to make changes if we do not like a politician or a party. That is what is beautiful about democracy. It reflects who we are and allows us to build a stronger future together.

We must meet the challenges our country faces, and there are many challenges. As I said, our entire global trading system is being reshaped by the threat of tariffs and the divides that people are working behind the scenes to create. We need to take on these challenges, and having a strong democratic system is the key to continuing to build a strong country.

The government in place under our new Prime Minister is going to look for ways to take on trade and create economic fairness to make sure that we not only continue to build a relationship with the United States and redefine this relationship, but also open up trade routes and trade relationships around the world. I have always talked about how Africa is on the rise, and we as Canadians should be looking toward Africa as we look for ways to reshape and rethink our entire trading system.

We have to invest in the Canadian economy. We have diversity here. We represent all countries around the world. We need to leverage that to build a stronger economy, and we need to build this future together. We know that democracy is not perfect, but we also know it is the best system we have in place to shape our future. It reflects our values of fairness, justice and opportunity.

We are going to look at how we move forward to build stronger, safer communities. We are investing more, as the throne speech said, in defence, securing our borders and keeping communities safe. We will look at how we spend and will look for ways to reduce the growth taking place naturally through inflation and other systems to keep it at a reasonable rate that is good for Canadians.

We have to embrace technology, automation and AI, and look for ways to strengthen our country by making sure that at the end of the day, we take advantage of them.

We will also keep investing in national programs such as child care, pharmacare and dental care. Of course, we are promoting a tax cut, which I hope all members of the House will support.

In my final 30 seconds, I would like to say that as Canadians, we stand for fairness, democracy and inclusion. We protect the vulnerable, fight climate change and push forward on reconciliation. We celebrate our bilingualism, multiculturalism and shared values, and we step up to big moments. Through war and global challenges, we are always called to lead, and we will continue to do so. Let us shape a Canada that works for everyone, not just today but for generations in the future.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, while I share many of the member's ideals of democratic government and elected parliaments, I would like to discuss the actual matter at hand, the Speech from the Throne. This is a Speech from the Throne that contains no plan or map forward for the government, through these admittedly very difficult times that we face, and there will be no budget tabled in the spring session.

Parliament has not sat for many months. Does the member not agree that there should be a budget this spring?

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

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on his recent election.

I do not know if the member read the actual throne speech, but I would advise the member to take a look through it, because there are a lot of concepts and ideas. Some are traditional ideas that Liberals hold as values, but we do talk about lowering taxes. We talk about removing GST from homes and apartments. I am hoping that the member opposite will support the throne speech.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in his speech, my colleague touched on technological innovation and the environment. However, there is a contradiction in the throne speech.

How can the government seriously think it can fight climate change while abolishing scientific environmental assessment studies?

I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on that.

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

Mr. Speaker, when we look at history and the position of Liberals across the country and among members of Parliament, there is no question that, in the House, we have been at the forefront of looking for ways to mitigate climate change. We, as a country, are looking for different ways to do it, but I would say that all people in the House agree that we need to keep our country clean, and we need to keep our country beautiful. We may have different ways of doing it, but at the end of the day, we are all on the same page.

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I also would like to congratulate my colleague on his re-election. In his really great speech he highlighted democracy and why it is so important.

He talked about the different ways that we are looking to trade around the world and the different partnerships that Canada is looking to grow. He mentioned in his speech the opportunities that could be available to also collaborate with Africa. I would like to see if the member would like to expand a little on that and talk about the economic power that lies within our communities.

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

Mr. Speaker, as Canadians, we need to rethink how we approach trade. I meet with people who are promoting Africa and the African diaspora within the Americas. We have to look for alternative ways to build trade. In the Americas alone, there are 220 million people of African descent. Throughout the Caribbean and throughout America, there are chambers of commerce. We need to tap into those networks as Canadians and leverage them, because we have the people here. The great thing about our country is that we have representation from all around the world, and we need to leverage it today to build for tomorrow.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is very nice to see you in that seat. You look very distinguished there.

For me, when I read the throne speech, one of the things that shocked me the most as an Albertan, as somebody who is deeply worried about housing, health care and all of those things, was that none of that was in the throne speech. There was nothing on below-market housing, nothing for indigenous housing, nothing for health care, and nothing for workers, who are the most impacted by the tariffs that we see from Donald Trump. Why is that?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is astonishing. I do not think folks on the other side have read the throne speech, because it is full of different solutions, ideas and themes, but what a throne speech really does is set the tone for the direction in which a government is going. I would be happy to talk about some of those—

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I just want to be very clear. I asked the member to tell me about where it was in the throne speech or why those things were there—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I am going to interrupt the member. That does not sound like a point of order; that sounds like a point of debate. I will let the member finish.

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

Mr. Speaker, as members and a new government come forward, we all have to work together to find solutions so that we can help build a stronger country for all Canadians.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to commence by thanking the residents of Willowdale for having granted me the privilege of once again returning to the chamber to advocate on their behalf. I was fortunate during the election campaign to have the best campaign team anyone could possibly ask for. As always, I give eternal thanks to my spouse, Celeste, who was deeply engaged in every aspect of the campaign. My campaign team headed by Sean, Alex, Maddie and Marcus, and hundreds of volunteers did an inordinate amount of work to fully engage the residents of Willowdale. I can assure every one of them that I will be thinking of them every day as I sit in the chamber.

Like all members in the chamber, I was confronted at the doors by Canadians with a renewed sense of national pride. While the world faces unprecedented challenges and uncertainty has become the new norm, Canadians were unified during this election in demanding that we remain laser-focused on addressing challenges, on strengthening the economic foundations of our country and on creating opportunities for all Canadians. The residents of Willowdale recognized full well that our country faces a uniquely critical moment and expressed their collective desire to see our country prove resolute in charting a bold, dynamic and ambitious agenda. The Speech from the Throne, delivered by our sovereign last week, captured the essence of what Canadians expect of their elected officials and of the need for our country to seize the moment, to ensure that we are creating new opportunities that will ensure we remain the greatest country in the world.

The world today is more dangerous, erratic and uncertain than at any time since the end of the Second World War. I would be remiss if I did not mention that this year we mark the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. The heroism and valour of Canadians at Juno Beach, at Dieppe, on the Somme and at Vimy Ridge and countless other locations around the globe will be the topic of discussion for Canadians. We should also remember that after the guns fell silent, Canadians were intimately involved in creating the institutions that acted as the pillars of a post-World War II era and proved responsible for eight decades of peace and prosperity. We owe it to the inspiring generations that preceded us, as well as those who succeed us, to be vigilant.

Previous generations of Canadians met the moment and it is now up to us to ensure that we protect Canadian interests and build new alliances and a new economy that serves all Canadians. Our government, under Prime Minister Carney, recognizes the need to think big and act resolutely. We must build a stronger and more secure Canada. Much of such work will be accomplished by building new and enduring relationships with allies around the world, including with Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and to deepen and broaden our ties with Japan and the Republic of Korea.

As was noted in the Speech from the Throne,“Canada has what the world needs and the values the world respects.”

We can all certainly agree that to build Canada strong, our federal government must partner with the provinces, territories and indigenous peoples. As the Prime Minister emphasized throughout the federal election, the core mission of our government is to build the strongest economy in the G7 by unlocking Canada's full economic potential.

Although Canada has one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios and one of the lowest levels of inflation among the G7 countries, we have much more economic work to do. It all starts with creating one Canadian economy out of 13. As the members are well aware, earlier this week Prime Minister Carney had many robust discussions with our premiers and made the pledge—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

The member has used the Prime Minister's name twice now. I know we are all back and are a bit rusty, but just as a reminder, we cannot use the names of ministers or the Prime Minister in this House.

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

My apologies for that, Mr. Speaker.

Just to remind everyone, as everyone is fully aware, earlier this week, the Prime Minister had robust discussions with premiers and made the pledge to remove all federal barriers to internal trade and labour mobility in the coming weeks, prior to the celebration of Canada Day this summer.

We are also focused on building commercial corridors and building projects of national significance that will fortify the ties that bind us together as a country, will deepen our ties with the world and will create high-paying jobs for Canadians. We must build on a scale and at a pace like never before. Critically, we are committed to doubling the rate of homebuilding by establishing “build Canada homes” that would ensure we tap into Canadian technology, Canadian skilled workers and, of course, Canadian lumber.

Another significant portion of the Speech from the Throne was devoted to recalibrating our economic and security relationship with the U.S. and on forging stronger partnerships with other countries in the world. As the members are aware, our government is fully engaged in intensive negotiations with our neighbours to the south, but we are also focused on engaging with the rest of the world. Within days of becoming Prime Minister, the new Prime Minister visited London and Paris. It was also announced within days of the Prime Minister being sworn in that Canada was partnering with Australia on a $6-billion Arctic radar.

We are keen to join ReArm Europe, which would provide us access to new opportunities in Europe's over trillion-dollar defence marketplace. As our Minister of Defence recently declared, Canada is ready to take immediate and decisive action to boost our military preparedness. Indeed, very soon we can expect to see a tripling of military spending from 2014 levels.

All that is to say, our government fully appreciates that Canadians expect us to stand up for our interests and to do so with great energy and as expeditiously as possible, and that is exactly what our government will deliver. Rest assured, we will be ambitious and we will be bold.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

As shadow minister of trade, Canada-U.S., I would like to acknowledge that earlier today the Speaker had ruled against an emergency debate on Canada-U.S. trade. I would just like to acknowledge that I am seeking an emergency debate and I am hoping that all parties will approve.

Canada and the United States share one of the most successful and mutually beneficial trade—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I am sorry. I am going to have to interrupt the member. That is not a point of order; that is a point of debate. The Speaker has already ruled with respect to the emergency debate.

Questions and comments—

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, ON]

I am seeking unanimous consent, Mr. Speaker.