House of Commons Hansard #88 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was benefits.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Opposition Motion—Interim Federal Health Program Members debate a Conservative motion to review the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP), citing its quadrupled cost and projected rise to $1.5 billion by 2030. Conservatives argue the IFHP provides deluxe benefits to failed asylum claimants, while Canadians face healthcare crises. They propose restricting benefits to emergency care and expelling foreign criminals. Liberals condemn the motion as divisive and fearmongering, highlighting government reforms like copayments and Bill C-12. Bloc and NDP members oppose the motion, stressing federal processing backlogs and humanitarian obligations, while criticizing Liberal copayments. 47500 words, 6 hours in 2 segments: 1 2.
Similarities Between Bill C-2 and Bill C-12—Speaker's Ruling The Speaker rules on a point of order concerning the similarity of government Bills C-2 and C-12. The Speaker allows Bill C-2 to proceed due to its broader scope, despite acknowledging extensive overlap. 1000 words, 10 minutes.
Sergei Magnitsky International Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Act Second reading of Bill C-219. The bill strengthens Canada's sanctions regime against human rights abuses, foreign corruption, and transnational repression. It seeks to define transnational repression, ban sanctioned officials' family members, and revoke broadcasting licenses for state-controlled media from regimes committing atrocities. While supported, Members express concerns regarding the safety of political prisoners' families and administrative burdens, aiming for amendments in committee. 7400 words, 1 hour.
Mark Carney LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I am looking forward to coming up to my one-year anniversary as Prime Minister. During that time, new refugee claims and new asylum claims have gone down by one-third. During that time, students have gone down by 60%. During that time, temporary workers have gone down by 50%.
We have the immigration system under control, and we are supplying the health care Canadians need.
Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions
Battle River—Crowfoot Alberta
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says he has the system under control. Obviously, he is just another Liberal. He thinks it is under control when the cost of deluxe supplementary benefits is up 1,000%, and the number of refugee claims is up 3,000%. Meanwhile, under his leadership, and after 11 years of Liberal government, we have six million Canadians who cannot find a family doctor.
Will the Prime Minister take his head out of the sand, vote for our motion and give Canadians back the health care they deserve?
Mark Carney LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, he said 11 years, but I just got here. The member opposite has been here his—
Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions
The Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia
I just want to remind the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman that only one person should be standing at a time in the House.
The right hon. Prime Minister will need to start from the top.
Mark Carney Liberal Nepean, ON
Mr. Speaker, I just got here. The Leader of the Opposition has been here his entire career, with one exception.
During the time that Canada's new government has been here, we have reduced asylum seekers by one-third. We have reduced temporary foreign workers by 50%. We have reduced new students by 60%. We are putting in place, and this is in front of the House in Bill C-12 and Bill C-2, an ability to end the abuse of the asylum system. We look for their support.
Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions
Battle River—Crowfoot Alberta
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister may pretend he just got here, like he is a temporary foreign worker or something, but in reality, we have the same Liberal House leader, the same Liberal finance minister, and the same Liberal justice minister who was the immigration minister who broke the entire system, and they are running it into the ground today.
It is not just health care where there are two tiers. The Prime Minister is keeping laws in place that allow foreign criminals who are visiting Canada to have less time in jail after they commit crimes. Will the Prime Minister get rid of the two-tiered system so that we can lock up serious criminals and then kick them out of our country when they are done serving their time?
Mark Carney LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I would encourage, in the spirit of the member opposite's question, support for Bill C-2 and Bill C-12, which would help to address some of these issues. That is the first point.
The second point is that, when someone commits a crime in this country, they should serve the time in this country.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, the sponsorship scandal cost around $330 million. The SAAQclic fiasco in Quebec cost around $1.1 billion. The infamous Phoenix fiasco is estimated to cost $5.1 billion and counting. Estimates for the Cúram fiasco have ranged from $1.6 billion to $6.6 billion.
Is the Prime Minister proud to be presiding over the worst financial scandal in Canadian history?
Mark Carney LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, first, this project began in 2017. At that time, I was the governor of the Bank of England.
Second, the project was expanded. All amounts have been budgeted for, including the $6 billion.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, he says it is not his fault.
In 2019, the Bloc Québécois called for the government to boost retirees' purchasing power. Then came the pandemic, which made matters worse for retirees. That was followed by postpandemic inflation, which further eroded retirees' purchasing power. Next, there was discrimination between retirees over 75 and those under 75, and now we have Cúram, which is preventing 85,000 retirees from getting their cheques at the right time, in the right way or in the right amount.
Does the Prime Minister realize that his government is the one that has been mistreating retirees the most?
There must be at least one retiree in Terrebonne who is wondering about that.
Mark Carney LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, first, we have strengthened Quebec's health care system. Second, we have strengthened Quebec's dental care system. We have strengthened Quebec's pharmacare and more.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, Cúram is the biggest financial scandal in Canadian history. Retirees' purchasing power has been falling since the Liberals came to power. I am talking about these Liberals and the ones in the previous government, because they are one and the same.
Since the Prime Minister says it is not his fault, will he at least agree to get to the bottom of the Cúram scandal by launching an independent public inquiry? That is what others have done.
Mark Carney LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the Cúram project has already been reviewed by the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Auditor General. All amounts have been budgeted for, end of story.
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, we need to restore order and fairness in Canada's immigration system. Conservatives have a clear proposal to end the two-tiered health care system, where failed asylum claimants get access to premium health care while Canadians who have paid into the system wait in overcrowded emergency rooms. There is no reasonable justification to oppose fairness for Canadian taxpayers.
Why are the Liberals voting to protect a system that puts failed claimants ahead of Canadians?
Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions
February 24th, 2026 / 2:30 p.m.
Gatineau Québec
Liberal
Steven MacKinnon LiberalMinister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister outlined all of the ways the levels of temporary Canadians, asylum seekers and others are going down, and going down quickly.
It is very interesting to us that, after a week away to lick their wounds, the Conservatives returned to Parliament to punch down at some of the most vulnerable people in this world, including, on this most solemn of anniversaries, an amputee child from Ukraine who comes seeking health care in Canada. They would deny that person.
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, here they go again, calling anybody who questions anything about them names.
In just 10 years, the cost of health care for asylum seekers has skyrocketed from $60 million to over $1 billion. That is a 1,500% increase. They cannot run away from that.
Legitimate refugees deserve protection. That is not the issue here. Failed asylum claimants should not be receiving premium coverage while six million Canadians cannot find a family doctor and are waiting 12 hours in an emergency room.
I will ask again, will the Liberals restore order and fairness to the system?
Steven MacKinnon LiberalMinister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, failed asylum claimants are not granted asylum and, therefore, cannot stay in Canada.
The Conservatives need to stop punching down at the world's most vulnerable people. There are legitimate claimants and legitimate refugees on Canadian soil, including people fleeing the war in Ukraine, the anniversary of which we are marking today. The Conservatives should be ashamed of themselves for picking on the most vulnerable people on the planet.
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Mr. Speaker, six million Canadians do not have a family doctor, and the average wait time to see a specialist is around 30 weeks, yet the Liberals keep rejected asylum claimants, people their own refugee board has rejected, fully enrolled in a program with premium health benefits, on the same wait-list as those Canadians.
Does the health minister believe that the asylum claimants her own government rejected should be in the same lines as Canadians and genuine refugees, yes or no?
Lena Metlege Diab LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are focused on strengthening our immigration system and building Canada strong.
If the Conservatives were really serious about health care, they would support our investments in hospitals, they would support dental care, they would support pharmacare and they would support the immigration program under the global talent stream that I just announced. Last week, the first physicians and surgeons were picked under that program to care for Canadians and everyone in Canada.
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals actually cared about genuine refugees, they would not force them to wait in the same health care lines as fake asylum claimants, and they would not force them to wait in the same backlog as claimants whom the government rejected, but they do, and they refuse to fix it.
Will the health minister explain to those genuine refugees why rejected claimants are ahead of them on health care wait-lists?
Lena Metlege Diab LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, we have a robust immigration system. Our system works. We have an IRB that handles claims. The people who are inadmissible and ineligible are not going to the board; they are ruled out. Those who clearly fit in the system are in there, and we will continue to honour our humanitarian, constitutional and international obligations.
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Speaker, the interim federal health program is paid for by taxpayers and covers the health care costs of asylum seekers and certain non-citizens. Six million Canadians do not have a family doctor and the system is overwhelmed, but we have found out that non-citizens and some non-permanent residents are receiving more generous benefits than Quebeckers and Canadians are getting. This is a matter of fairness.
Will the government support our motion to ensure that non-residents and non-citizens do not receive better health care than Canadians?
Lena Metlege Diab LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, that is not true. That is not true at all. We are strengthening our borders and we are making it more difficult for people to abuse our system. We reduced the number of asylum seekers by 33% last year. Bill C-12, which we passed, will improve our systems.
We are here to work for all Canadians, for all Quebeckers, for everyone in every province, including those who truly need our help.
Gabriel Hardy Conservative Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC
Mr. Speaker, the member is right, we are here for Canadians and Quebeckers who are taxpayers. Asylum seekers who have been rejected by our system should never receive better health care than Quebeckers and Canadians. What is more, the Standing Committee on Health has learned that some providers charge the interim federal health program up to five times the normal provincial rate for services. The Liberals spend nearly $1 billion a year on non-Canadians, and that cost is projected to reach nearly $1.5 billion by 2030.
Will the government support our motion to ensure that Quebeckers and Canadians are the top priority?