Debates of Oct. 6th, 2026

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been in a trade war, and everyone knows this, with America, and there have been real consequences because of that: The Stellantis plant in Brampton closed, Paccar had major layoffs, Stelco now has layoffs, and hundreds of business across this country are laying off workers.

The Liberals had a solution: Buy Canadian. What were the results? They bought American. They have increased the buying from American companies by a whopping 50%, in the middle of a trade war, to $7.8 billion. Why is that?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives need to get their facts straight. Of the $8 billion the member is talking about, there is $2 billion for General Dynamics to build 190 light armoured vehicles for the Canadian Armed Forces. There are 1,700 jobs that depend on it in London. That is 600 suppliers.

The Conservatives' own member for London—Fanshawe was asking for these investments in Canadian content and Canadian workers. It is a little rich to hear them now complain about these investments that are building Canada strong.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals must have a different definition of what buy Canada means than what we think buy Canada means. If we are buying Canadian, we do not actually increase the amount of money we are sending to America. It is a pretty simple economic lesson.

Why did the Liberals do this? It is because their buy Canada is all illusions. They are all talk, no results. If we are in the middle of a trade war, as we all know, we should be buying less from America.

Will someone explain why we are not buying less from America in the middle of a trade war?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, I will happily explain. It is because we made a deliberate decision to favour Canadian content and attract investment in Canada.

If the member is suggesting that we should stop investing in General Dynamics, for instance, to build these LAVs for the Canadian Armed Forces, he should tell that to his colleague, the member for London—Fanshawe. He should say that to our colleagues from across the country who depend on these jobs in their ridings. We are talking about 5,000 jobs for IBM and 5,300 jobs for Microsoft Canada. This was a deliberate choice to increase Canadian content, and our policy is working.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government, since the Prime Minister took office, has given $7.8 billion to American corporations. This is the same Prime Minister who made a big, grand show of theatre in promoting a government policy to buy Canadian, yet since then his government has increased government contracts to American companies. They now make up one-third of what the Canadian government is buying. The out-of-touch Prime Minister is ignoring what Canadians want and what he promised to Canadians.

I have a very simple question: Was “Buy Canadian” just another empty Liberal slogan?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, if we were to follow the Conservatives' flawed logic, we would tell DP World to go away and to take the 8,000 jobs that are at the port of Montreal with it. They would tell Shell and Petronas to go away and to take the 6,000 jobs at LNG Canada away. They would tell—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

It is getting a little noisy.

The hon. member may continue.

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Markham—Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, they would tell BHP to take the thousands of jobs away it is building in Saskatchewan.

The Conservatives do not seem to understand the difference between someone who is invested in Canada and someone who is crapping on Canada.

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I am not sure I would have used that language.

The hon. member for Elgin—St. Thomas—London South has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, if the minister wants someone invested in Canada, why has the Prime Minister put 91% of his assets in the United States? This is a very real problem. Canadian businesses in my community and across this country are laying people off because the government has turned its back on them through 10 years of high taxes, high regulations and an inability to get a deal and support businesses.

When the Prime Minister told them that they should buy Canadian, they expected him to follow the example and not increase government contracts to the U.S. Was it buy Canadian or sell out Canadians?

[Stephen Fuhr, Liberal, Secretary of State (Defence Procurement)]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to remind the House that foreign direct investment in Canada is very important. It is at a 23-year high. These companies that do direct work in Canada employ tens of thousands of Canadians. They have IP. They have headquarters. They retain talent. They do many things here. We will support them, as we will support Canadian industries, as long as they continue to build out their presence in Canada.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Prime Minister defended Bill C‑39 on the grounds that it does not repeal any laws. This is true. The problem is that it allows developers to circumvent laws when they have the Prime Minister's backing, as in the case of Pacific link. The laws still exist. They simply do not apply to projects selected by the Prime Minister, whose proponents can bypass impact assessments, disregard environmental laws, and proceed without first consulting experts, the provinces and indigenous peoples.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister called it “efficiency”, but is it actually a Liberal two-tiered system?

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

Mr. Speaker, making decisions faster does not mean we are lowering our standards. I am a little perplexed by the Bloc Québécois's line of questioning. We are here in this democratic chamber debating a government bill designed to build and strengthen our country. Why is the member calling that undemocratic?

She should participate in the debate, express her views and take a position. Then we can vote.

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

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-39 is part of a pattern of serious abuse of authority by the Prime Minister. He is giving himself the power to suspend whatever laws he wants. He is giving himself the power to approve projects without consulting any experts, provinces or indigenous peoples. In addition to Bill C‑39, the Prime Minister is creating more and more new agencies to do his bidding in order to circumvent the public service. He is flouting the parliamentary process and snubbing journalists, except for the American media. In short, he is disregarding all checks and balances so that he can govern unilaterally, by decree.

Is he telling us that he is the law?

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

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to our colleague, just because she repeats overblown remarks or says things that might make a good clip for tonight's TVA news does not mean they are true.

As she is well aware, and as my colleague the House leader just said, this democratically elected Parliament is currently seized with a bill that is important to Canada's economy, including Quebec's economy. Its purpose is to build new major projects in the right way, with respect for environmental standards and in consultation with indigenous peoples. That is exactly what we are doing.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière—Hébertville—Pays-des-Bleuets, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says that Bill C‑39 is simply about efficiency. Allowing dirty oil pipelines to avoid impact assessments is not efficiency. Allowing oil companies to lay pipe without waiting for the results of studies is not efficiency. Allowing proponents to circumvent environmental laws is not efficiency. Allowing pipelines to jeopardize endangered species and their habitat is not efficiency. It is irresponsibility.

How can the Liberals support their leader's abuse of authority?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, we need to double the capacity of our electricity grid. We need to do this to advance the electrification of our economy. That is how Canada will get to net zero. Thanks to this bill, we can move forward on electricity and clean energy projects, such as the Churchill Falls project and wind energy projects. We need these projects in order to become a net-zero economy.

Taxation

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, potato farmers in P.E.I. have told me that they are bracing themselves for the impact that high diesel prices are going to have on their farms. Nathan told me that fuel prices have already doubled to $14,000 for harvest this year. Skyview Farms told me that their fuel price was $19,000 in one month. Ike said that when diesel prices in P.E.I. go up, the price of everything goes up.

High diesel prices are driving up costs on farmers and grocery prices for every single Canadian. Will the out-of-touch Liberals support our Conservative plan to reduce taxes on diesel, or will they turn their backs on farmers at harvest?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party of Canada is not turning its back on farmers. We are making all kinds of investments alongside farmers. We are working alongside them, and we will continue to work alongside them.

We announced more than $370 million in new biofuels production incentive programs to support Canadian producers and biodiesel. With the Imperial Strathcona project, which we heard of yesterday, 2.5 million tonnes of canola are being used to produce about a billion litres of biodiesel fuel. We are going to continue to invest alongside farmers.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, here are the consequences of bad Liberal policy. Stephen, a grain farmer, told me that high diesel prices are costing him $5,000 a day. During harvest, they are going 24-7. The bill is going to be more than $100,000 just in additional fuel prices for one farm.

Farmers, truckers and manufacturers are all paying soaring diesel prices, and now Canadian families have to brace themselves for even higher grocery prices. Will the Prime Minister support our plan for diesel price relief to give farmers a break today?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, this is how the member opposite can help his concerned member: vote for Bill C-38 and extend the exemption on the diesel tax. Why do they not do something that will actually make a difference?

[Carol Anstey, Conservative, Long Range Mountains, NL]

Mr. Speaker, how out of touch was that?

Diesel in Deer Lake has reached $2.77 a litre. Michelle, a farmer in Cormack, expects her diesel bill to reach a staggering $135,000 this year, up nearly 56% since 2024. Diesel costs for farmers, fishermen and truckers mean higher grocery bills for Newfoundland and Labrador families.

Will the energy minister support our Conservative emergency fuel relief plan, which would eliminate federal taxes on diesel until at least Canada Day 2027 and provide real relief for Canadians and farmers like Michelle?

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite would like to do something tangible for the residents of her riding, she needs to speak to them about the benefits they received through the food and essentials benefit yesterday, and also—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!