Debates of Nov. 5th, 2026

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister cooked the books on immigration. He either lost count of, or lost altogether, 300,000 people in this country. Last year, the Liberals announced a cut in levels, only to bring in two backdoor programs to sneak in thousands more. Therefore, the population is again growing and levels are again at historic pre-Trudeau levels, or higher than pre-Trudeau levels.

Will the Prime Minister cook the books again today to hide the number of people he is bringing in to profit big corporations with lower wages and higher rents?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition needs a little work on his maths. The population growth in Canada was the lowest rate in decades. This government has taken back control of immigration. The number of asylum seekers is down by 70%; temporary foreign workers, down by 60%; foreign students, down by 80%; and permanent residents, down by 100,000. In a few hours, they will see the next phase of that immigration platform.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is cooking the books. When they compare themselves to insanity, it is insanity. He is comparing the numbers to the Trudeau-era levels.

Let us compare them to the Conservative government. The asylum claimants backlog is up from 10,000 to 259,000, a 2,500% increase. The number of temporary foreign workers is up to 166,000 from 71,000, a 130% increase. The number of temporary residents is up 300% and he has 700,000 people here on work permits, even though there are thousands of youth who cannot find jobs.

Will he stop cooking the books, and put Canadians first?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am not comparing myself to insanity. I am comparing myself to conspiracy.

We have taken back control of immigration. The number of non-permanent residents has slowed from over 7% to just above 5%. We believe in this country. We are building Canada strong.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the numbers I cited are from his government, so he must be in on it then. He cooked the books on immigration. He cooked the books on debt. He will stand up now and give fake and phony statistics on debt and deficit, but that is because he is dividing his expenditures onto not one, not two, but three different credit cards, using accounting rules that no one else in the world uses. If a company did it, they would be criminally charged for defrauding their shareholders.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that the Prime Minister will add $700 billion of new debt over the next five years. How much will Canadians pay?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will see in a few hours how to manage the government's finances and the country's finances. We will see a government that is taking control of spending, that has slowed it from over 8% to less than 2%. We will see a government that is balancing the operational budget. We will see a government that knows how to invest in the future of this country because that is what Canadians want.

I understand the Leader of the Opposition, who has only ever torn things down, does not understand how to build things up at this time.

Public Services and Procurement

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I will confess that I have no idea how to build up $733 billion of new debt, which is what he is planning to do, and it is going to the Liberal club.

The Prime Minister has attempted to distract using the Trump card to justify the 2.3 billion tax dollars he has given to Telesat, the company of his friend Dan Goldberg, but the excuse does not work, because Telesat is giving a billion of those dollars to Elon Musk's SpaceX for launch capabilities.

Has the Prime Minister ever discussed Telesat with his public servants, his ministers or his staff, yes or no?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have not been involved in any decisions related to contracts with Telesat or the financing of Telesat. Those decisions began with the Conservative government in 2007. They ran through the public procurement process.

The final decision was made by the Secretary of State for Defence Procurement. I had no knowledge of those decisions. I did not participate in those decisions. I am proud of Canada, however.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, how he chooses his words so very carefully. Earlier on, his government claimed he did not have any discussions about Telesat, and now he has deleted that word, just as he deleted mention of his friend and that company from a later edition of his book.

The company got the contract in August of this year, a decade after the Conservatives left office. Here is the question for the Prime Minister: Did he ever discuss Telesat with any public servant, any staff member or any minister, yes or no?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I was not involved in any decisions related to that company—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

It is getting too loud.

The right hon. Prime Minister, from the start.

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Nepean, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was not involved in any decisions related to that company, but if the Leader of the Opposition would like to learn something, he might want to read the national security strategy. He might want to recognize that one of the key determinants of this country's sovereignty, which this budget is going to help deliver, is control of space. We will build Canada strong in space.

The Economy

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the National Women's Liberal Commission—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I would ask the hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly to repeat his question from the top. We had to wait until the noise died down enough to hear him.

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party's National Women's Liberal Commission submitted a brief that is strongly opposed to Bill C‑39. This group is the official women's wing of the Liberal Party of Canada. Among other things, they condemn the excessive and permanent powers that weaken environmental protections and consultations with indigenous peoples.

Will the Prime Minister listen to them, or will he claim that he alone makes all the decisions?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what Quebeckers and Canadians want is to build this country with high standards. We will do that, and we can do that with Bill C‑39: one project, one review, one year, one stronger country.

Labour

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Magali Picard of the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, the FTQ, has also spoken out against Bill C‑39. Ms. Picard criticized the Prime Minister for the provisions limiting the right to strike. She announced that the FTQ will challenge Bill C‑39 in court because it is unconstitutional and is the most restrictive anti-worker law in the G7. The Prime Minister previously asked Magali Picard to advise him on Canada-U.S. relations. I, for one, wish him good luck.

Will he listen to Ms. Picard, or will he ask her to pipe down?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for Ms. Picard. I listen to all of Ms. Picard's advice. I listen to what she has to say about the bargaining process between workers and corporations. The best agreements are reached at the bargaining table. That is the objective of the amendments to Bill C‑39. We will maintain high standards when it comes to unions and bargaining.

Indigenous Affairs

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, has criticized Bill C-39, saying that it violates the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. We are hearing the same thing from the Native Women's Association of Canada, which has also expressed concerns about the environmental impacts of the bill and the potential repercussions for women. Except for the government members, no one really agrees with Bill C-39.

Will the Prime Minister also tell indigenous peoples to keep quiet?

[Mark Carney, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I had a big meeting with all of the first nations chiefs and most of the provincial and territorial premiers. We had discussions about the need for projects here in Canada and about the importance of having real participation from indigenous and first nations partners, and that was with the agreement of Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak.

Public Services and Procurement

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I asked the Prime Minister if he had ever talked to a minister, staff member or public servant about Telesat. He got very nervous. He refused to answer the question, and he talked in generalities about his budget—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I would ask the member to start over.