Debates of Sept. 15th, 2025

Citizenship Act

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

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, it is important for you to rule on the rules, because the member opposite suggested that somehow debating this bill is preventing the Liberals from bringing in a budget. Would you, Mr. Speaker, be able to clarify that the amount of time we spend debating this bill has absolutely nothing to do with the timeline available to the government, and, in fact, they could have brought—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

There is no rule being broken. This is a matter of debate.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we, as legislators, are the only elected officials in the entire system, which goes from judges and the Senate to ministers and the Prime Minister. We legislators are elected. In that sense, we are all the government's boss.

If the government introduces a bill that elicits concern or opposition from elected members, those members are duty-bound to raise those concerns in the House and launch the debate by telling the government that they are not on board and that they have doubts, concerns or issues. That is the basis of the parliamentary system we practise here.

I have no problem with debate. It is the government's job to make sure it talks to all MPs and all parties to see if there is a way to speed things up. If there is not a way, and if a lot of MPs want to talk about a bill, that may mean the government did not communicate the information properly.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Joliette—Manawan, who will soon be celebrating his tenth year as a parliamentarian here, in the House of Commons. I want to congratulate him. I notice that there are a few of us here in the House who will soon be celebrating our tenth year.

I was extremely impressed by the quality of my colleague's fact-based speech, especially the history leading up to the current situation. I congratulate him on his expansive knowledge of Canada's history.

However, I want to remind him that, at the end of his speech, he mentioned a reality which I am sure is a common occurrence for all parliamentarians, every week, on all sides, whether they are members of the government, the official opposition, the second opposition party, independent members associated with the NDP or other independent members. Every week, as parliamentarians, we are confronted with dozens of mishandled, problematic immigration cases.

Could the member tell us how things are going in his riding? In his opinion, how much of the blame lies with the people who have been governing us for the past 10 years?

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to congratulate my colleague and friend who will also soon be celebrating 10 years in the House. We were elected at the same time on October 19, 2015, although he served as a member of the Quebec National Assembly before that, and I did not.

I also want to thank him for his kind words about the history I gave on this bill. I try to learn as much as I can about the history of Quebec and Canada. However, the Bloc Québécois relies on a tremendous team of researchers who help us put what we already know into words.

The problems in my riding are growing. I would say that about half of the constituency casework that I do to help the people of Joliette is related to the Department of Immigration, and it is not as though I am serving in a downtown Montreal or downtown Toronto riding. This act should have been reformed 10 years ago to simplify the process. It is a matter of dignity.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Joliette—Manawan for his excellent speech.

Earlier, a Conservative colleague said that if this bill were passed, people with no connection to Canada could end up becoming citizens. However, I believe that this is addressed in the wording of Bill C-3, which states that a substantial connection is required.

What I find a little more troubling is that she wondered whether people who apply for citizenship would deserve it. I would like to hear my colleague's thoughts on this. Really, is a child born in—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

I must interrupt in order to give the hon. member for Joliette—Manawan the opportunity to respond in less than 10 seconds.

The hon. member for Joliette—Manawan.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I read Bill C-3, its purpose is to resolve this issue. It is not a question of being deserving or not. If the parents and grandparents were temporarily abroad at birth, it should—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

It is my duty to interrupt the proceedings of the House.

A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.

Finance

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Algonquin—Renfrew—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last June I asked the minority Liberal government if it would respect the vote of Parliament and table a budget. The Minister of Transport and Internal Trade declined to answer. Instead, she praised her new Prime Minister's latest costly political gimmick.

Nine months ago, that same minister resigned her position as Trudeau's finance minister. This saved her the embarrassment of tabling another broken fiscal budget. She was spared from having to admit she had broken through her fiscal guardrails by tabling a $40-billion deficit. What should be even more humiliating is that it was only 18 months ago that she tabled the 2024 budget, which claimed the deficit for this fiscal year would be $38 billion. Independent estimates suggest this year's deficit will be anywhere from $80 billion to $100 billion. That is more than double what the former finance minister promised in 2024.

The Liberals are not just crashing through their fiscal guardrails; they are nuking them from outer space. This level of fiscal recklessness is dangerous at the best of times, but we are not living in those times right now. Around the world, bright flashing warning lights are going off about governments' debt and deficits. Riots in France followed the collapse of the French government after it failed to pass a budget to reduce the deficit. The Prime Minister of Japan resigned amid growing concerns over the bond market.

One would think that a former central banker would understand that the days of governments having easy access to debt are coming to an end, yet the current minority Liberal government seems hell-bent on testing the limits of investors' patience. What is worse is that the Liberal Party is doubling down on failed economic policies. As Americans turn away from the principles of economic freedom, the Liberals seem to be adopting more and more Canadian-style protectionism. It should worry Canadians when the government brags about ignoring trade deals with Europe and Asia that require free trade in procurement. When Democrat Senator Bernie Sanders is celebrating a Republican president's move to seize a 10% stake in a private company, freedom-loving Canadians should take note.

We now have a Prime Minister who cannot stop talking about using public money to catalyze private wealth. We saw from the Prime Minister in his fake housing announcement on Friday how this works. The Prime Minister announced millions of tax dollars that would flow into a modular housing company he had invested in. The Liberals claim that these affordable modular homes will be built on federal land. Here is a quote from a news story about the Liberal housing announcement: “Canada plans to ease a housing shortage by leasing public land to developers for construction of affordable houses under a plan unveiled by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau”.

I am sorry: That quote is from last year's identical Liberal housing announcement. The only new thing in the Prime Minister's announcement was a new bureaucracy the Liberals announced to duplicate the work of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Last year, when Trudeau made the same announcement, we saw the result. Nothing was built, because the Liberal regulations required homes to be multi-unit, net-zero, gender-neutral and decolonized. It is unsurprising that few developers leapt at the chance to build tiny woke homes that nobody wants to live in. Soon the Liberals will learn that Canadians do not want to raise their families in modular boxes stacked atop one another, but by then it will be too late. Liberal insiders will have pocketed the housing cash and the government will move on to announcing its next recycled housing plan to not build homes.

[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, it is great to be back in the House. I really missed it over the summer.

I would like to point out to the members opposite that just last spring, the member who posed the question ran on an election platform whose plan of action for the first 100 days in office did not include tabling a budget. How surprising it is that we have an opposition criticizing us for the things that it does not follow. Thankfully, Canadians do not have to witness that 100-day action plan coming to fruition. That is because Canadians made it very clear they wanted a government that would take bold action to drive economic growth, create good-paying jobs and have all Canadians benefiting from Canada's unique and vast wealth and prosperity.

That is exactly what we are doing on this side of the House. We are doing it with strength, with purpose, with agility and with positivity. Canadians know that this new government has a mandate for change, which includes cutting taxes for the middle class and bringing down costs to put money back in their pockets. The government has already delivered on a plan to build one Canadian, interconnected, resilient economy that everyone can afford.

I remember the major projects list that just came out, which is creating over 10,000 jobs. In the fall, we passed legislation to introduce a middle-class tax cut for Canadians. Some 22 million Canadians from across Canada will save up to $840 a year. That is for dual income families.

For first-time homebuyers, the government's GST relief on new homes valued up to $1 million will save them up to $50,000. We are also lowering GST for first-time homebuyers on homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million. That is real, tangible support for Canadians on affordability in the areas where they really need it. The recent launch of build Canada homes will accelerate the construction of new builds and deeply affordable housing to further bring down housing costs by increasing availability. For everyday Canadians at the pump, we cancelled the consumer carbon price to refocus carbon pricing on large emitters.

These are just a few examples of how our government is delivering for Canadians.

As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, I had the privilege over the course of this summer to do countless pre-budget consultations and hear from Canadians right across this country, from Iqaluit to Halifax to Vancouver Island. As part of that process, I heard from workers, industry leaders, experts, stakeholders, civil society organizations, and municipal, provincial and territorial leaders. They provided invaluable input into the budget process.

Ahead of the 2025 budget, we will continue to focus on ways to grow the economy sustainably and make life more affordable for Canadians. This includes the need to make substantial investments in priorities such as nation-building infrastructure, defence and housing, and to catalyze private investment to advance our national goals.

As we have stated, the budget will be released this fall, and it will lay out a plan for building a new industrial strategy that will transform our economy and help us access foreign markets. In a rapidly shifting global landscape, this is how the government can bring down costs and create greater certainty, security and prosperity for all Canadians.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Algonquin—Renfrew—Pembroke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary's response was to repeat the same Liberal talking points.

For Liberals, it is all about spending announcements, but as I said earlier, a budget is more than just about a list of Liberal spending. A budget is supposed to explain how much Canadians are going to be spending, how much the Liberals are going to be spending, what taxes the Liberals are going to hike, how much they are planning to borrow and how much they will spend on interest payments.

By hiding from Canadians for six months, the Liberals only increased economic uncertainty, and in the meantime, they failed to get a trade deal, they failed to approve a single infrastructure development and they failed to give our troops the raise they promised. Canadians just cannot afford this record of failure.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Speaker, budget 2025 will be the next step in our plan to catalyze investment and build a new Canadian economy, one that creates higher-paying careers, raises incomes and can withstand future shocks, which are ever increasing with climate change and the many global instabilities we see.

We are laser-focused on building the strongest economy in the G7. This fall, we will deliver a comprehensive, well-planned budget that advances those objectives, and we will deliver it with a new approach focused on reining in wasteful operational spending, focusing instead on capital investments in the big things that will drive this country and move us all forward.

Housing

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are back in the House after what seems to be a long summer vacation for the Liberal government. We still have a youth unemployment crisis, which got worse. We have chaos in our immigration system, which got worse. We have crime and lawlessness in our streets, which got worse.

The Prime Minister promised Canadians a new direction, a change in leadership, whatever it was. Instead, they got the same ideas from the same old ministers and the same predictable platitudes, which are, frankly, coming up short on results.

Before the Liberals took the summer off, I asked a question about Canadian housing. I am going to talk about the market for a second, as we saw what was going on over the summer: Buyers cannot buy and sellers cannot sell. That should be indicative of a massive policy failure.

If someone wants to own a home in Vancouver right now, it is going to cost them an average of 13.5 times their income. In Toronto, it is 10 times their income. At the same time, housing construction is down. It is down by 50% in the GTA, and it is down 13% right across the country. This is a government that promised us the most ambitious housing plan since World War II, but it is going to miss its targets this year by 50%.

It is easy to see how all of this is happening. The lofty rhetoric we hear is not really lining up with what the government is actually doing.

The person put in charge of housing in this country raised home building taxes by 141% while he was in Vancouver as mayor, and he let home prices skyrocket by 149%. That was my question. The minister is rewarding the municipalities following in the footsteps of generous handouts for cities that refuse to get new housing built. We have seen a continuation of that over the summer, and he is preserving the high-tax red tape bureaucracy in Ottawa that stops progress and keeps prices high.

In fact, what the government is doing since I have asked this question is building a $13-billion corporation led by a former NIMBY deputy mayor from Toronto who was responsible for keeping the private sector out of the tendering process in that city. At the very same time, the immigration minister is opening the doors to this country, pulling out a rubber stamp and adding about 20% more to the cost of a home.

Let us break down what this all means and why I asked my question, which was not answered. Forget owning a home. A person needs to make $46 an hour just to rent an apartment in Vancouver, and $42 an hour in Toronto. We know most jobs are not like that and do not pay that. This means half of young Canadians will now spend over 50% of their income on housing. It means 27% of homeless Canadians are now over the age of 50. What all of that means is that nobody is immune to the 10 years of housing hell that the Liberal government has created.

I really hope the parliamentary secretary was in training camp this summer because it is going to take a lot of flexibility and verbal gymnastics to explain why this failure was so big and why it is getting bigger.

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is facing a housing crisis that demands bold action. That is why the Government of Canada has introduced the most ambitious housing plan in our country's history. This is a team Canada moment, when we must all come together and focus on what matters most for Canadians: housing, affordability and a resilient economy. We are working closely with all levels of government, indigenous partners and the private sector to get the job done for Canadians.

People across the country are struggling to pay their mortgage and their rent and to keep up with the high cost of living. That is why our new government has moved forward with a middle-class tax reduction, like my colleague mentioned, that will provide tax relief for nearly 22 million Canadians, saving families up to $840 a year. It is why we are helping young families buy their first home, by eliminating the GST for first-time homebuyers.

We need to build at scale quickly and bring down the cost for home builders. That is why we are working with municipalities to cut development charges in half for all multi-unit housing projects.

Yesterday the Prime Minister launched “build Canada homes”, which will be responsible for building and financing affordable housing at scale. With an initial capital investment of $13 billion, it will catalyze a more productive homebuilding industry and support more affordable housing options for low- and middle-income households. We have also clarified the definition of affordable housing, making it based on income rather than on median rent in the area.

We are going to do that with Canadian innovation, Canadian material and Canadian workers, and we are going to continue building on the success of programs like the $4.4-billion housing accelerator fund. Through this program, we have signed more than 240 agreements with municipalities to cut red tape and increase housing density. That is what partnership is about. These actions are expected to support the construction of more than 750,000 new homes over the next decade.

Finally, our government is taking action to grow and protect the supply of rental housing. We have removed the GST on new purpose-built rental buildings and have committed more than $24 billion in loans to build almost 65,000 units through the apartment construction loan program.

The federal government is using every tool at our disposal to lead transformative change in Canada's housing system and to make sure that every Canadian can find a home that meets their needs and their budget. We are taking action. We are there for Canadians. We hope the opposition can support us.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary admitted one thing that I agree with, which is that Canada is facing a housing crisis, which her colleagues and the Minister she is here for actually juiced with 141% more taxes. They talk and talk, and there is no action, which is exactly what happened before. I am not sure what it is about a technocratic central banker that always has them building a new bureaucracy, trying to convince people that more steps or more offices or more appointments are going to somehow speed things up and do them more cheaply.

If the member is really serious about fixing what her government already broke, and I will give her the opportunity now since the Minister will not answer the question, would she agree to take GST off all homes up to $1.3 million, get rid of the capital gains tax and actually incentivize municipalities? She can answer that question right now.

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are facing a housing crisis that touches every corner of this country. That is why our government has launched a comprehensive housing plan, which is the most ambitious in our history, the most ambitious since the Second World War.

We are working in partnership with provinces, territories, municipalities, indigenous communities and the private sector. We spent all summer talking to industry; actually, we have been talking to industry since last year, to better understand how we can do this more quickly. We spent all summer engaging with stakeholders to make sure that what we are putting forward in “build Canada homes” is flexible and can address the crisis that we are facing.

We are reducing barriers to construction and investing in new housing programs. We are supporting first-time homebuyers, like I said earlier, with the GST rebate. We are launching “build Canada homes” to accelerate the pace of homebuilding and build affordable housing at scale. We are here for Canadians.

Justice

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been nearly three months, actually a little over three months, since I asked the Minister of Justice a very important question for the people in my constituency and across the country, which was, in essence, when is the Liberal government going to stop putting the rights of offenders ahead of the rights of victims in this country?

Over the summer, we have seen a proliferation, an expansion, a continuation of crime and lawlessness in large cities and small communities all across this country. On August 29, the justice minister said, “This isn’t the Wild West.” I would like to read some headlines that followed that comment.

This is from August 29: “Repeat offender charged after alleged attack on transit police officer in Vancouver”. This is from August 30: “Police say over 80 shots fired, three injured in downtown Hamilton shooting”. This is from August 31: “Police say man, 46, 'targeted' in Vaughan homicide; 3 suspects wanted”. This is from September 1: “2 men shot in Scarborough, Toronto police appeal for info”.

This is from September 2: “Shooting at Abbotsford, B.C., home leaves residents 'shaken' but uninjured”. This is from September 3: “12-year-old charged with attempted murder in Markham shooting”. Believe it or not, that 12-year-old was out on bail. This is from September 4: “Woman 'kidnapped', family member shot during yet another Ontario home invasion”. This is from September 5: two people killed and two injured in a double homicide in Vancouver.

To be respectful of the House's time, I will just skip ahead to a headline from a few hours ago: “Boy, 12, and man charged after unhoused man killed in unprovoked attack, Toronto police say”. That was a different 12-year-old.

Every single day since the Minister of Justice mocked Canadians concerned about crime, there has been yet another example, and there are many more that I did not have time to share today. Many of these cases are offenders out on bail, out on release or under conditions after previous criminality that has already been known.

This has long since passed the point where we even need to provide evidence of how the bail system and the justice system in this country have been broken. The one thing we can say for certain is that this has all happened under the Liberal government's watch over the last 10 years. There has been a series of legislative changes that have made bail easier to get and have resulted in more criminals out on the streets.

This is a government that likes to say it listens to the experts. I would like to highlight some of the thoughts that have been shared by police chiefs in my riding of Elgin—St. Thomas—London South. One comes from the police chief in London, Ontario. Chief Thai Truong says, “This kind of violence, and the total disregard for public safety, is a symptom of a larger issue”, and he said that issue is “the criminal justice system.”

Chief Kyle Johnstone of Aylmer said, “We are seeing a troubling pattern where individuals with a demonstrated history of criminal behaviour are being released back into the community, only to reoffend within days”. Chief Marc Roskamp of St. Thomas said, “The current bail approach continues to allow high-risk individuals to reoffend once released.”

My question for the Minister of Justice is very simple. When will the Liberal government accept the failure of Bill C-75 and introduce real bail reform that puts the rights of victims first?

[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 welcome the opportunity to speak today on the government's efforts to address crime and public safety.

The impacts of crime on victims, their families, their friends and their entire community are far-reaching and long-lasting. Canadians deserve communities that are safe. The government is committed to ensuring that the criminal justice system works effectively to keep Canadians safe and to hold offenders accountable. While this Parliament is still relatively young, the Government of Canada is focused, and it is already taking action to address pressing issues facing our communities.

During the election, we promised to strengthen the Criminal Code and move aggressively to protect victims by making bail laws stricter for violent and organized crime, including home invasions, car thefts and human trafficking. The Prime Minister and Minister of Justice have both signalled the government's intention to move quickly on this legislation. Today, we heard the justice minister talk about how that legislation will be forthcoming in short order.

I share my colleague's concern, obviously, about the devastating impact that illegal drugs have had on Canadian communities, and my community is no exception. The Government of Canada has already introduced legislation through Bill C-2, the strong borders act, to ensure that law enforcement has tools to keep our borders secure, combat transnational organized crime, stop the flow of illegal fentanyl and crack down on money laundering. It will bolster our response to increasingly sophisticated criminal networks and enhance the integrity and fairness of our immigration system while protecting Canadians' privacy and charter rights.

I would encourage all of my colleagues in this place to work together to ensure that we can achieve these goals as quickly as possible. Bill C-2 builds on past investments made by the Government of Canada, notably through December 2024's border plan. The plan focuses on five key pillars: first, detecting and disrupting the illegal fentanyl trade; second, introducing significant new tools for law enforcement; third, enhancing operational coordination; fourth, increasing information sharing; and, fifth, minimizing unnecessary border volumes.

With an investment of $1.3 billion over six years to bolster security at the border and reinforce the immigration system, the plan also targets law reform to strengthen capabilities for immediate deployment of people and equipment. The government also appointed a fentanyl czar to provide national leadership, coordinate federal efforts and strengthen the response to the escalating harms caused by fentanyl and other toxic opioids.

The Government of Canada is serious about addressing illegal drugs and organized crime. While we could speak for much longer about the importance of this issue and the efforts the government is making, I will conclude by highlighting that laws on their own will not result in safer communities. We require action by those responsible for the criminal justice system to effectively implement those laws and to ensure that there are resources in place so that the system is working as intended.

That is why I am happy that the government is making significant real investments in addressing these issues through recruiting 1,000 more RCMP officers and 1,000 additional CBSA personnel, including border services officers, intelligence analysts and specialized chemists.

There is much more to talk about, but members should have no doubt that our government is focused on cracking down on crime and is addressing some of the bail reform issues we have heard about that lead to repeat offenders.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there may have been a misunderstanding here. I do not have a question about my taxes. I do not have a question about the lack of a budget from the Liberal government. I do not know why a question about bail reform was met with a response by the parliamentary secretary for finance and national revenue. Evidently, addressing bail reform is not a priority for the justice minister or even his parliamentary secretary.

I will be very clear on something: When the parliamentary secretary says that laws are not responsible for this, he is ignoring what police, provinces and municipalities across this country have said, which is that the Liberal government's bill, Bill C-75, has directly caused there to be more of a revolving door, putting serious, sometimes violent offenders back out on the street.

Will the Liberal government commit to repealing the principle of restraint that is putting criminals out on the street, sometimes hours after they are arrested?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Speaker, to be clear, the Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that Canadians live in safe communities, free from the poison of toxic drugs. We are also committed to addressing bail reform issues that will help ensure that individuals are not out on bail.

The Government of Canada has already introduced laws to strengthen our borders and address illegal drug activity, and it has committed to introducing new legislation very soon to meet the specific commitments that we have made to Canadians, as well as the broader goal of maintaining a just and safe society for all. While crime continues to represent a serious challenge in our society, the government is meeting it head-on and working in lockstep with provinces and territories in this regard.

I would encourage all of us in this place to work together so that we can ensure that these efforts are successful, and that includes all opposition members. I look forward to that member's playing a constructive part in the process.

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 6:58 p.m.)