Debates of March 9th, 2026

Rail Transportation

[Tim Louis, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade]

Mr. Speaker, we know we need to work together to make major projects happen, and that is what our government is doing. We are maintaining an open dialogue with other levels of government, with farmers, with unions and with all community stakeholders. We need to build this country together, and we are looking forward to the co-operation that is going to happen.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, a global surge in oil prices should be a good chance for Canada, home to the fourth-largest oil reserves on earth. However, despite the PM's rhetoric and photo ops, there is not one new cross-border export pipeline to anywhere. The costly Major Projects Office has not approved one yet, and the federal industrial carbon tax drives away Canada's producers like CNRL, which just paused an $8-billion project due to regulatory uncertainty.

Canada can and should be the world's top energy choice. Why will the PM not get out of the way so Canada can fuel allies and power paycheques at home?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is Monday, so there is good news. We recently approved the Taylor to Gordondale pipeline. More good news is that we announced the sunrise pipeline expansion project. TMX just announced the first of three optimization projects to grow our energy exports.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, none of those are new pipelines for exports. Usually, high prices mean a high dollar, but Canadians are paying the price.

The Liberals promised a Pacific pipeline, to remind them, but they keep their unlawful, “never build anything anywhere” Bill C-69, their drilling and tanker bans, and their federal industrial carbon tax that drives away investments. The more these Liberals say they are different, the more things stay the same.

Canadians want pipelines now more than ever, but wait for the Liberals to keep their word. When will the PM, who helped Trudeau kill billions of dollars in projects and thousands of jobs, get that Pacific pipeline done for Canadian unity, sovereignty and accountability?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Province of Alberta officials are really excited about working with us. They are working with us on the MOU and they have said that by the summer they will be coming forward with a proposal for a new pipeline. It would be great if the Conservatives got on board and started working with the Government of Alberta and the federal government to build Canada strong.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, despite the government's claim, the Prime Minister has not approved a single new pipeline to tidewater. Even with sweeping new powers, the Major Project Office has yet to approve a single major project, let alone one in Canada's oil sands. Canada's energy sector could help supply our allies, strengthen our economy at home, diversify our trade and provide greater economic certainty in an uncertain world. Why will the Prime Minister not support responsible energy development so Canada can help our economy and our allies?

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

Mr. Speaker, I invite the Conservatives to work with us to grow our energy exports. The Province of Alberta is doing that. Why can they not get on board?

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we are on board. Rising oil prices should be a major opportunity. Canada is home to the fourth-largest oil reserves, yet Canada's leading energy companies have been clear that it is the Liberal anti-energy laws that are killing economic growth in our country. Instead of building, we are seeing projects stall. Last week, CNRL paused an $8-billion project because of Liberal anti-development policies and laws. This would have been thousands of jobs in Fort McMurray—Cold Lake and right across Canada. Why will the government not just get out of the way so that we can get pipelines built?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are working with the Alberta government, and Canadian oil production reached a record high last year. We are helping with the TMX optimization. We are helping with the Taylor to Gordondale pipeline. We are helping with the sunrise expansion. Why do the Conservatives not get on board?

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, rising oil prices should be an enormous opportunity for Canada's economy, but Liberal anti-energy ideology blocks this sector. Despite grand speeches and meaningless MOUs, the Liberals have failed to approve any pipeline to tidewater, and their Major Projects Office has done nothing and approved nothing. Canadian energy should stabilize global markets, support our allies and strengthen our own economy. When will the Prime Minister get out of the way and unblock our resources so we can fuel our friends abroad and power paycheques here at home?

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

Mr. Speaker, hopefully the Conservatives will be supportive of our putting the Ksi Lisims project to the Major Projects Office. Maybe they would be supportive of our putting LNG Canada 2 to the Major Projects Office. Maybe they would be supportive of the TMX optimization. Maybe they would be supportive of the Taylor to Gordondale expansion. Maybe they would be supportive of the sunrise expansion.

We are building Canada. They should get on board.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week thousands of investors, workers and innovators gathered in Toronto for the PDAC convention, the world's largest mining conference. Canada has the critical minerals that the world needs for electric vehicles, clean technology and national security.

Last week our government announced new investments to accelerate mining projects and strengthen our supply chains with allies. Could the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources update the House on how Canada will help build mines faster, attract investment, create jobs and build a strong, resilient Canadian economy?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for her strong support of the mining sector. At PDAC last week, our government showed that Canada is leading our allies to secure critical mineral supply chains. We announced investments in 22 new projects to help connect mines to markets. Through the critical minerals production alliance, Canada has secured 30 new deals with 12 different allies to bring $18 billion of new investment to the Canadian critical minerals sector.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been four years since the war in Ukraine began, and it has been four years since we called on the government to expedite Canadian LNG exports for allies like Germany. It has been eight months since Parliament gave the government power to expedite new oil and gas projects for exports to Europe and Asia. In eight months, not a single new export project like that has been approved.

When will the government get serious about Canadian energy policy? Do we have to wait for another four years of inaction?

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

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the Conservatives were not here last week. We just approved the Bay du Nord project to export our energy to the world.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the question was about LNG exports. When the war began in Ukraine, it took Germany only 194 days to approve and build a new LNG export facility, and another four new facilities were quickly brought online shortly thereafter. Over 194 days ago, this Parliament gave the government unprecedented powers to expedite new gas projects to expedite LNG for Europe and Asia. Now we have a war in the Middle East. When is the government going to use these new powers and approve new LNG exports for Europe or Asia?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, the government is focused on attracting foreign direct investment to this country. Last year alone, close to $100 billion was attracted to Canada, which is the highest it has been in close to 18 years. That is something to celebrate. People are looking to our LNG projects. There are over a handful in various stages of development. LNG Canada 1's first shipment is out to Asia. LNG Canada 2 will be the second-largest LNG facility in the world. We are there. We are going to export our energy to various places around the world.

Public Safety

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada now leads the world in shootings against Jewish institutions. We have heard countless condemnations and been offered endless thoughts and prayers from the Liberal government. It has failed to address the fact that terrorists live in Canada, that institutions cannot access security funding and that there is zero enforcement of the laws that are already on the books.

I am going to give the Minister of Public Safety an opportunity to get up in his chair, say that it is terrorism and tell the House what he is going to do, when he is going to do it and how he is going to do it.

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me extend my condolences to the communities at Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto, as well as the Shaarei Shomayim synagogue and Temple Emanu-El, which were shot at last week.

I have had the opportunity to meet with many members of the Jewish community. I can tell the House that we absolutely condemn these acts of violence and we will take every effort to ensure that this does not happen. We are working with law enforcement. We are working with the province, as well as the municipalities, to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians, particularly Jewish Canadians.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister still has not said a thing. The community does not need the empty condemnations. They need action from a government that has let this spiral out of control for more than two years. They have taken every side of the issue except for the side that protects Canadians.

Fund the security programs, hunt down and lock up the people who perpetrate the violence, enforce the law and deport the terrorists the minister knows live here in Canada. When is the minister or anyone in the government going to say any of those things?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, let me just say that since last November, we have funded over 108 projects relating to Jewish community institutions.

Let me also say that this is a moment when all Canadians need to come together, including the Conservative Party. There is a bill right now, Bill C-9, that is meant to support and ensure the safety and security of institutions, particularly those that are serving the Jewish community. I have heard from communities across this country. It is time for the Conservative Party to act and to ensure that Bill C-9 becomes law.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2018, we moved a motion calling on the Liberal government to immediately designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, as a listed terrorist entity. It took the Liberals six long years to wake up and do it. Right now, an estimated 700 members of the IRGC are living the good life here in Canada.

I am reluctant to ask the following question. If it took them six years to accomplish a simple task, how much longer will it take them to remove those terrorists from Canada? Can the Prime Minister tell us whether he is going to take action immediately?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the member opposite that the IRGC is listed as a terrorist entity in Canada. People who are members of the IRGC are facing consequences. They have been removed already. There are a number of members who are going through our process to be removed. We will ensure the safety and security of Canadians. This past week, I have had a chance to speak to members of the Iranian community who have highlighted the need for collaboration to ensure that we work together to ensure that the people who belong to terrorist entities are addressed and are removed from Canada.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Iranian Canadian community is talking to us, in fact. Iranian Canadians are telling us that the presence of IRGC members on Canadian soil is a huge problem for their community. We are not talking about one, two or three people. We are talking about hundreds of people linked to this terrorist group. They have been banned for years now.

Can the minister confirm that there are still 700 of them on Canadian soil and that he will do whatever it takes to remove them immediately and rid the country of these terrorists?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, let me share some information with the member opposite. First and foremost, over 18,000 applications for inadmissibility have been reviewed by the Canada Border Services Agency. We have opened over 170 investigations, and approximately 240 visas have been cancelled by IRCC.

We will continue to ensure the safety and security of Canadians. Our system works. We have listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity, and CBSA is taking efforts to ensure that people who are inadmissible are removed.