Debates of Feb. 27th, 2026

Recognition of 40 Years of Service

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize an outstanding individual from the community of Ste. Rose, Manitoba. Dr. David O'Hagan has dedicated 40 remarkable years to serving the people of Ste. Rose and the surrounding area as a physician.

Originally from South Africa, Dr. O'Hagan chose rural Manitoba as his home, and he has never looked back. It is no secret that finding a doctor willing to plant roots in rural Canada is tough. Too many small towns watch their physicians come and go. Dr. O'Hagan did not just stay but fell in love with his community, raised his family there and made Ste. Rose his life's work.

In rural Canada, a physician who stays is not just a doctor. They become a pillar to the entire community. Dr. O'Hagan and his wife, Bonnie, became that pillar, caring for generations of families with dedication and compassion. I ask all members to join me in thanking Dr. David O'Hagan for his outstanding 40 years of service.

Thomas De Koninck

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on February 16, we were deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Thomas De Koninck, an internationally renowned philosopher and pillar of Université Laval's faculty of philosophy.

Thomas De Koninck will, of course, be remembered as the inspiration for Saint-Exupéry's character the Little Prince, but to students like me who knew him personally, he was a legend in a different way.

He left a lasting impression on generations of students by awakening our desire to learn, nurturing our critical thinking skills, and fostering a love of culture in all its forms. Professor De Koninck had the ability to pass on his passion for great literature and make even the most complex works accessible. He devoted his life to combatting ignorance and promoting human dignity.

On behalf of the thousands of students he moulded into better thinkers, I thank Professor De Koninck. We are freer and more independent thanks to him.

On behalf of his friends Gilbert Larochelle and Jean-François de Raymond, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family of Thomas De Koninck.

Scouting Week 2026

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise this morning to mark scouting week, which took place last week in my riding.

I want to pay tribute to the thousands of young people across the country who are keeping this great movement alive. The francophone scouting movement is the largest youth movement in Canada. It brings together nearly 10,000 young people and 3,000 dedicated volunteers. Scouting is not just about outdoor activities. It is a community that helps young people gain confidence, become independent and help others. I also want to acknowledge the incredible work of scouting groups in my riding of Mont-Saint-Bruno—L'Acadie, which have over 75 young members.

I invite all of my colleagues in the House to join me in wishing our young people a very happy scouting week.

TeleMiracle Telethon

[Kevin Waugh, Conservative, Saskatoon South, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Saskatchewan have shown the country what generosity truly looks like through the incredible tradition of the Kinsmen TeleMiracle telethon.

TeleMiracle brings communities together to raise funds for life-changing medical equipment, mobility supports and specialized care in my province. Saskatchewan residents have helped to raise over $171 million since 1977. Starting tomorrow, the 22-hour telethon kicks off, marking half a century of entertainment and fundraising.

Congratulations, TeleMiracle, on 50 years as a true Saskatchewan treasure. Where are we going? Higher. Saskatchewan, get ready to ring those phones.

Ottawa Heart Institute

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when was the last time you thought about the health of your heart? For many Canadians, the risk of cardiovascular disease is not top of mind, but the One Million Canadian Hearts campaign led by the Ottawa Heart Institute, located in my riding of Ottawa Centre, is hoping to change that.

As part of the activities to mark 50 years of operation, the Ottawa Heart Institute has launched this campaign to screen one million Canadians for cardiovascular disease risk factors. This work will raise awareness, enable early treatment and, ultimately, save lives. Fifty years after its founding by Dr. Wilbert Keon, the Ottawa Heart Institute is celebrating a legacy built on innovation, compassion and relentless pursuit of excellence.

Congratulations to everyone who works at the Ottawa Heart Institute on their 50th anniversary.

Pest Management

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, a perfect storm is brewing on Canada's Prairies, and the Liberal government is refusing to act.

The exploding population of Richardson's ground squirrels and farmers' loss of strychnine to control them spells disaster for the upcoming growing season. Widespread infestations have led to severe damage to cropland and pastures. The removal of a tool that farmers have used for generations is forcing them to resort to far worse alternatives. These ineffective methods of gopher control are resulting in economic losses, more injury to livestock and a crisis for farm and food sustainability.

The Liberal agriculture minister made a commitment to farmers that he would support the application of strychnine for emergency use. The Prime Minister promised to change the mandate of the Pest Management Regulatory Agency to consider the cost of food in all regulatory decisions without putting health and safety at risk. These promises have not been fulfilled.

Canada's farmers are calling on the Liberals to support farmers' choice in pest management and approve the emergency use of strychnine for provinces that request it.

Festival du Voyageur

[Ginette Lavack, Liberal, St. Boniface—St. Vital, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to draw attention to the 57th Festival du Voyageur, which just wrapped up in Winnipeg. Created to honour the legacy of the voyageurs and to celebrate western Canada's francophone community, this festival embodies a spirit of courage, solidarity and pride.

The voyageur spirit is what brings nation builders together in the dead of winter to celebrate their culture and pass it down with passion. For close to 60 years, this event has brought thousands of people together to enjoy music, history, food and jaw-dropping snow sculptures. This year, more than 70,000 festival-goers braved the cold. More than 200 artists took to the stage, from the festival's grand opening to the Valentine's Day celebrations, ending with Louis Riel Day. The Festival du Voyageur is the largest francophone cultural event in Manitoba and western Canada.

My heartfelt thanks go out to the organizers, artists and volunteers. Hey ho!

The Economy

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister promised the fastest-growing economy in the G7, but new Statistics Canada data shows that Canada saw its economy shrink last quarter, the only country in the G7 to do so.

After 10 years of deficits, inflation, higher taxes, anti-development laws and bloating bureaucracy, growth has stalled and Canadians are paying the price. While other countries build, the government fails to approve nation-building resource projects. The Major Projects Office has yet to approve a single new project, despite being created in order to move at unimaginable speed. Business has stalled, net capital is leaving and per capita GDP has been flat for a decade while Canadians work harder and fall further behind. This is the result of Liberal policies blocking development, suppressing productivity and driving away investment.

Now that Canada is the only G7 country with a shrinking economy, will the Liberals finally get their taxes and bureaucracies out of the way and stop making things worse, so Canada can build, invest and grow?

Canada-U.S. Relations

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is about a team Canada approach. Every Liberal member of Parliament understands the importance of the Canada-U.S.A. trade. Every Liberal member of Parliament does. While the leader of the Conservative Party is trying to reset his trade position, we have a Conservative member of Parliament who travels to the U.S.A., meets with the President and meets with the Vice-President. What does he come back saying? He says in Canada we are “shooting ourselves in the foot” with our “anti-America...hissy fit” on trade.

Shame on the Conservative Party. If we take a look at the Cuba issue, we have a Conservative MP who is saying that Canada should not be contributing to Cuba, but the deputy leader of the Conservative Party says he is wrong, that we should.

Who is actually making foreign policy in the Conservative Party today?

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian economy is suffering the effects of unjustified tariffs from the Trump administration in the U.S.

The Conservatives propose creating a strategic critical mineral reserve as well as an all-party CUSMA working group to address these challenges and to create a tariff-free auto pact. This would restore our leverage and support Canadian manufacturing.

Will the government work with us to ensure that Canada can negotiate trade deals that benefit our workers and our economy?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Speaker, to answer my colleague directly, obviously we can. We can get to a good deal. This is exactly why the Prime Minister is engaged, but this is also exactly why our colleague, the Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade, is in Washington today, meeting with the U.S. Trade Representative to do that work.

That being said, we took good note of what the Leader of the Opposition said yesterday at the Economic Club of Canada, and we are very happy that a lot of our program is being copied.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have consistently demonstrated a willingness to work with the government to get results for Canadians in the face of these unjustified tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump. Look at the constructive amendments to the budget bill that were adopted and our support for efforts to relieve taxes on Canadians in this challenging time.

Our proposal for an all-party CUSMA working group to get a tariff-free auto pact and to create a strategic critical mineral reserve would help us to negotiate from a position of strength, so will the government accept our offer to work together to get the best results in the interests of all Canadians?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Speaker, there are lots of things we cannot control. Certainly we cannot control the White House, but there are lots of things we can control. What we can control is how to build one strong Canadian economy.

Who said that first? It was the Prime Minister. Who copied that yesterday? That was the Leader of the Opposition.

Of course, we will work on an auto pact that is tariff-free. Of course, we will work to have a strong critical mineral supply. Of course, we are willing to work as one team Canada. The Conservatives should just get on board.

The Economy

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the numbers are in, and Canada's economy shrank during the fourth quarter of 2025. In fact, Canada's economy is the only shrinking economy in the G7. The Prime Minister promised to build the strongest economy in the G7. Instead, he has delivered the weakest.

In the face of that, will the Prime Minister accept any responsibility for the dismal state of Canada's economy?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it is always interesting that when the Conservatives cite reports, they cite only part of the report.

Of course it is unfortunate that we saw a contraction of 0.6% in real GDP, but what else does the report say? It says that consumer demand is up. It says that domestic business investment is up. As my colleague is very well read, I am sure he read in Bloomberg yesterday that, beyond that, there is the highest foreign direct investment Canada has seen since 2007, at almost $100 billion.

A major nation-building project is exactly what this country is engaged in to bring jobs and purchasing power. We will achieve exactly that.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, here is the reality. Under the current Prime Minister's watch, more investment dollars have left Canada than have come in. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has doubled down on the worst policies of Justin Trudeau: higher taxes, inflationary spending and the same anti-development laws. Not a single major project has been approved.

With a record like that, is it any wonder that Canada has the worst economy in the G7?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, while the apparent new trade critic or maybe foreign affairs critic from Bowmanville—Oshawa North talks about a hissy-fit doctrine with the Conservative Party, what is this government doing under the Prime Minister's leadership? It is forging new trade relationships and forging new investment opportunities. We see the results in terms of foreign direct investment in a nation-building agenda that will lead, as I said, to new jobs and the purchasing power that comes from those along the way.

We know that those results are not immediate, of course. We are cutting taxes for Canadians. We are continuing to put in affordability measures. We will continue to be there for the people of this country. It is a serious agenda for a serious time.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised us the most dynamic economy in the G7. Statistics Canada released data today that tells a different story. The GDP shrank by 0.2% in the last quarter of last year. Canada is now the only G7 country whose economy is in decline.

Given that our per capita GDP is stagnating and that Canadians are working harder but only falling further behind, when will this government stop stifling our economy with its taxes and bureaucracy so that we can be competitive with our allies again?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, but I have to correct her because we created more jobs last year than the United States did. We created 189,000 jobs while the United States created 181,000 jobs, even though the U.S. economy is 10 times bigger than Canada's.

What is more, our exports are growing. Exports to Europe have increased by 31%, on top of increases of 8% for Latin America, 18% for Africa and 6% for Asia. We are also a foreign investment destination for the first time in 18 years.

We are working on attracting lots of investment to Canada.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have the most recent data. Today's report shows an alarming trend.

For the third year in a row, government spending is artificially boosting GDP, while business investment is declining. In the auto sector, production has dropped by half since these Liberals came to power, threatening thousands of jobs. Projects are on hold, and capital is fleeing the country.

When will the government cut the red tape and give Canada's entrepreneurs some breathing room?

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague mentioned, when one is reading a report, it would be a good idea to read it in its entirety. In this case, the report shows that, in the fourth quarter of this year, domestic demand was very strong and private investment has picked back up.

The bottom line is, the only negative aspect of the fourth-quarter GDP report was a sharp drop in inventory. Generally, when inventories drop like that, it means that production will pick up again in the next quarter, so we are ending in a strong position.

Public Services and Procurement

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, imagine retiring and then not receiving an OAS pension for nine months. That is the kind of problem that 85,000 people are experiencing because of the Cúram software. What is more, the 85,000 is a figure dating from the end of January. The minister has not updated the figures yet. Let us hope that they have improved. However, on Monday, the president of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada said that, in the long run, he feared that millions of people might be affected.

When will there be an independent public inquiry into this fiasco before it gets worse?

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the member opposite, I would recommend that he read the Auditor General's report on the modernization of benefits or the testimony and two reports from the Standing Committee on Public Accounts, one from 2011 and the other from last fall.

Of course we are working to address the backlog. Let us keep in mind that this is the largest digital project ever undertaken by the Government of Canada.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it cost $6.5 billion, so I hope it is the biggest project ever undertaken. It is getting expensive.

There are 85,000 victims of errors related to Cúram. There could be more. No one knows for sure. Cost overruns amount to $5 billion. The Liberals keep insisting that there is no problem and tell us to read the reports. We are reading the reports.

That is precisely why the Quebec National Assembly is unanimously calling for an independent public inquiry into federal computer programs. We will finally find out, once and for all, exactly who has been wronged and what the cost overruns are. This mess needs to be cleaned up, once and for all.

When will an inquiry be launched? That is what transparency looks like.

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Mr. Speaker, we have been at this all week. Let me try to correct the member opposite's assertions. There is no cost overrun. The first phase of this project is on track with respect to modernizing old age security. There are other phases of work still to come, similarly to modernize EI and Canada pension plan benefits. The Auditor General has looked at this. The public accounts committee has looked at this. The government provided a response to the House based on the parliamentary committee's report. Let us stop sowing confusion on this and get back to the facts.