Debates of Sept. 26th, 2025

Firearms

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety demonstrated this week that he is a Liberal through and through. He said one thing in private and did the opposite in public. In a shocking recording made without his knowledge, the minister admits that the gun buyback program is not worth the money being spent on it, that it is not an effective way to fight crime and that it is designed to score political points in Quebec. However, as a good Liberal, he still went ahead with his costly program that targets law-abiding hunters. While he is misleading Canadians, gun crime has increased by 130% under this Liberal regime.

Will the Prime Minister finally fire the Minister of Public Safety?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to talk about our compensation program, which launched this week. As members know, Cape Breton is where we will launch the pilot of this program. People can register starting on October 1. We are making sure that those prohibited weapons are off our streets, but at the same time, we will be ensuring that law-abiding gun owners are able to get fair compensation for turning in or deactivating their prohibited weapons.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Madam Speaker, I encourage the minister to read the newspapers. This morning, Le Devoir had this to say: “The [public safety] minister just proved in spectacular fashion that he is not up to the job”. The comments coming out of the office of the Solicitor General of Ontario are scathing. It says that the gun buyback program does nothing to address the root causes of gun violence in our communities. The Minister of Public Safety basically feels the same way. He was recorded saying so.

He was caught in the act of telling the truth, which is a scandal in itself for a Liberal, and he has done nothing to stop the rise in crime in this country. When is the Prime Minister going to fire him?

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

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety is fulfilling our election promise. His actions also reflect the fact that, on this side of the aisle, we have always tried to eliminate the possibility of assault weapons being used on our streets. Tragedies have occurred across Canada. Canadians cannot support access to assault weapons. Hunters tell us that they do not need assault weapons for hunting.

Something else that is clear in this debate is the Conservatives' consistent opposition to that.

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

Madam Speaker, in public, the public safety minister supports the Liberal gun buyback program, but in private, he calls it a politically motivated scam that will not work. Talking out of both sides of one's mouth should be a fireable offence, but it is worse than that. His job is to keep Canadians safe. Gun crime is up 130%, so he has failed, and he is pushing forward with a program that he says would not actually work.

What will it take for the Prime Minister to fire this minister?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, to have a serious conversation about crime, we need to have a serious conversation about guns. As of this week, we have launched the program in Cape Breton, where we are compensating lawful gun owners who are willing to forgo their AR-15 or other harmful weapons. In addition to that, we are securing the border with $1.3 billion in investments. We have Bill C-2 right in front of the House, which the party opposite, if it is serious about gun crime, can support and pass through the House.

We are looking—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon.

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

Madam Speaker, let us have a serious conversation about gun crime. The Toronto Police Association says 90% of guns used in gun crimes are illegal guns. Are the Liberals going after those? No. They have come up with this $750-million politically motivated scam. Those are not my words, but the public safety minister's words. Do members know what else he said? He said, “Don't ask me to explain the logic” of it.

If we are going to have a real conversation, why are the Liberals not going after the criminals and the 90% of illegal guns that are making our communities unsafe? His job is to make our communities safe. He is failing, and he has admitted it is a scam. Why—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. leader of the government in the House.

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

Madam Speaker, here is what is clear: On this side of the House, we will put in place meaningful measures to make sure that assault rifles are not available to the people who have perpetrated mass killings and tragedies in this country. That is what Canadians want. That is what Canadians asked for. That is what the Liberal Party has always stood for. What the Conservative Party has always stood for is making these arms available across the country and doing nothing to ban them. Hunters tell us they do not need them to take down a deer.

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to commend the Minister of Public Safety for accidentally telling the truth with respect to the Liberal gun confiscation program. I fully agree that taking legal firearms from trained, vetted and licenced hunters, farmers, sport shooters, military members, veterans and law enforcement is a waste of money. Out of the $742 million allocated for this gun grab, only $250 million is for compensating legal gun owners, while half a billion dollars is allocated to the bureaucracy of this useless program.

Why is the government focused on targeting law-abiding firearms owners instead of criminals?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, there are over 19,000 makes and models of guns that are legally available in Canada that people can use for hunting and other sporting activities. What is important is that we are taking lethal weapons off our streets, weapons that have been used in mass killings and weapons that have no place in Canada, including AR-15s, which have been directly linked to mass casualty events over the last 35 years.

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Madam Speaker, I will remind the government and all Canadians that assault rifles have been banned in Canada since January 1, 1978. The Liberals have since banned some semi-automatics, shotguns and twenty-twos based on the fact that they look scary, not on their functionality. The Liberal government would get unanimous support if it focused on criminals, repeat violent offenders and cracking down on the stem of illegal guns coming across our border.

Why is the government so focused on dividing Canadians and going after, statistically, the most law-abiding demographic in Canada, which is legal firearms owners?

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

Madam Speaker, what is mystifying is that Conservatives repeatedly stand in the way of sensible measures to control the propagation of assault rifles in this country, specifically in the face of mass tragedies, mass shootings, Polytechnique, the Quebec City mosque and the tragic incidents in Nova Scotia. We are putting in place sensible gun control. What is worse is that hunters in the member's riding, my riding and every riding are telling us that they do not need a submachine gun to shoot a deer.

Canada Post

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Madam Speaker, the minister's role is to bring together competing interests to come up with solutions.

The minister did exactly the opposite in the Canada Post labour dispute. He dropped an atomic bomb on the negotiations by reforming Canada Post without consultation and without bothering to inform the workers.

The result is that we now a full-blown general strike. No one is getting their mail. Once again, SMEs have to reinvent their operations overnight. Everyone is left to fend for themselves.

What is the minister doing to make amends?

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

Madam Speaker, it is indeed disappointing that both parties were unable to reach an agreement despite the intense mediation efforts that have been going on for two years.

An industrial inquiry was conducted that paved the way for reforming the Canada Post Corporation with the aim of restoring its profitability and securing long-term sustainable jobs

I implore both parties to reach an agreement. In the meantime, the government must take action. We can no longer afford to spend billions of dollars bailing out Canada Post.

[Alexis Deschênes, Bloc, Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine—Listuguj, QC]

Madam Speaker, Quebeckers in the regions are concerned about the Canada Post reform, because every time Ottawa talks about modernization, it means cuts to services in the regions.

Yesterday's announcement that the government is lifting the moratorium on the closure of rural post offices is being seen as a betrayal, and the end of home delivery outside major centres, especially in winter, is very bad news for people with mobility issues.

What will the government do to make sure that Quebeckers in the regions do not lose any services?

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

Madam Speaker, yesterday, my colleague spoke eloquently about the importance of ensuring services in remote, indigenous and rural communities across Quebec and Canada. The minister took action with the goal of saving these services.

Taxpayers can no longer afford Canada Post's $1-billion-plus deficits. We are putting the corporation on a sustainable path and, in the meantime, I hope that the two parties will be able to reach an agreement.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Côte-Nord—Kawawachikamach—Nitassinan, QC]

Madam Speaker, the postal service is an essential service, particularly in rural areas where the delivery of medicines is on the line.

No one is receiving their mail today because the minister triggered a general strike at Canada Post. In the middle of negotiations, while both parties, including the workers, were coming up with solutions for the future of postal services, Ottawa killed the negotiations by announcing a reform without consultation.

If the Conservatives had done that, the minister would have been the first to speak out about the situation.

What will he do today to restore dialogue?

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

Madam Speaker, federal mediators are, of course, available to ensure that both parties are on track to reach an agreement.

I would remind my colleague that losses of $1 billion or more at Canada Post are not sustainable; they cannot be sustained in the long term. With $1 billion, we can build a lot of houses and employ a lot of nurses in remote areas as well.

The government must take action to ensure the sustainability of Canada Post.

The Economy

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes, ON]

Madam Speaker, I recently spoke with a young father in Spencerville. He has a trade, he has a job and he has a young family, but he still has to count on a productive deer hunt this fall in order to provide a high-protein diet for his family. Why? The inflationary policies of the Liberal Prime Minister continue to drive the prices of food at the grocery store higher and higher.

Why can the Prime Minister not see that his policies are making things worse for Canadians who are just trying to get by?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Finance and National Revenue]

Madam Speaker, I respect my colleague a lot, but I do not think he is seeing the evolution of the Canadian economy.

I have some good news for the member. The Canadian economy is growing. I think he should be thankful for the plan of this government to make sure that we grow the economy and invest in the future.

On the budget, I know the Conservatives are waiting for November 4—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

Can we have some order and listen to what the minister is saying?

The hon. minister.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Madam Speaker, when it is good news, the Conservatives do not want to hear it, but Canadians sure want to hear good news.