Debates of April 24th, 2026

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, all 343 of us must abide by some of the strictest ethics rules that exist in the world. The Prime Minister disposed of all his assets in a blind trust on the day of his election as Liberal Party leader, five days before he was sworn in as prime minister. He took this step on day one.

Let us contrast that with the member's leader, who has been in the House for 20 years and still does not have a security clearance. The member needs to stand in his place and answer this: When his leader will get a security—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Order.

The hon. member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River.

Public Services and Procurement

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals handed 200 million tax dollars to a six-person company of Liberal insiders to lease a so-called spaceport consisting of a gravel parking lot and a small concrete slab, 200 million tax dollars to a company that does not even own the land but rather leases the land from the Province of Nova Scotia for a fraction of the price.

How do the Liberals justify handing 200 million tax dollars to Liberal insiders for a gravel pit?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, establishing Canadian sovereign space launch capabilities is going to drive billions of dollars in investments. It is going to create good-paying jobs, increase Canada's sovereignty, reduce our economy's reliance on the United States and support a commercial space launch and re-entry industry that could be worth up to $40 billion. This is what we are investing in, essential capabilities that protect Canada and create massive economic benefits for Canadians. How can the Conservatives be against that?

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

Mr. Speaker, only the Liberals could spend 200 million tax dollars to rent land already owned by taxpayers, but then again, the former Liberal premier of Nova Scotia serves on the advisory board to the company, and the lobbyist for the project is none other than a former staffer to the Liberal Minister of Justice.

Is this not just another case of Liberal insiders getting rich while taxpayers get ripped off?

[David McGuinty, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we are busy rebuilding, rearming and reinvesting in the Canadian Armed Forces. We are proud to invest in space capabilities, including space launch infrastructure. It is important for us to assert our sovereignty and our security in space-based communications, particularly in the Arctic.

This is one in a continuing series of generational investments to ensure both Canada's security and our sovereignty.

Labour

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

Mr. Speaker, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is not Montreal, yet the federal government treats it as if it were Montreal when applying temporary foreign worker program rules. As a result, because the unemployment rate is high in Montreal, we are not allowed to hire or retain workers in Saint-Jean, even though our unemployment rate is low. Everyone has spoken out against this policy: the city, members of the Quebec National Assembly, the chamber of commerce, businesses and so on. I myself have contacted three ministers, including the Quebec lieutenant.

Since Saint-Jean is not Montreal, will the government treat Saint-Jean separately instead of harming businesses?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would just like to make sure the member opposite knows that our temporary foreign worker program use is down 50% in 2025 and makes up less than 1% of our workforce.

In terms of ensuring that our EI program tackles the needs of all communities across the country, that is something that our government remains committed to, especially at a time when our EI program is so essential to Canadian workers right across the country.

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

Mr. Speaker, the federal government, in its laziness, assumes that all towns within the same census metropolitan area are the same, but I repeat: Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu is not Montreal. People from Montreal will not travel two and a half hours by public transit, one way, to come here and work. Let us not forget that we are a strategic national hub for defence and that, at a time when the federal government is investing in defence, local businesses are not allowed to hire staff or retain their existing workforce.

Does the minister realize how absurd this is? Is she going to change the rules?

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

Mr. Speaker, we continue to engage with the Quebec government concerning temporary foreign workers. We know how much the regions of Quebec need workers. Nothing is sadder than an order going unfilled because of a shortage of workers.

We are keenly aware of the situation described by my Bloc Québécois colleague, and we continue to engage with the Government of Quebec on this matter.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Immigration had the gall to say that it is perfectly fine for Canadians to fund health care for scammers, rejected refugees claimants, because it is just “0.2% of the total health spending”. That is unbelievable.

Over the past decade, more than 130,000 failed asylum claimants received better health care than Canadian taxpayers footing the $275‑million bill. Why is this acceptable to the Liberal government?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member is referring to the interim federal health program, a program that has been in existence since the 1950s, a program that has been supported by successive Conservative and Liberal governments.

Yes, this program does provide health care for people seeking asylum. What have we seen since 2015? We have seen a mass displacement crisis across the world. Canada has seen a mass increase as a result of people seeking asylum in this country. The program's costs obviously have grown dramatically since then. What have we done? We have worked to bring down costs, putting in place a copayment system that is going into effect in May.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals should have to look in the eye the Canadians who cannot access health care, facing such long waits in hospitals that they are dying, and tell them that their place in the system they pay for is being bumped by a fake refugee taking advantage of them. As much as the minister enjoys manipulating what is said, the reality is that Canadians are getting worse health care than the scammers are.

Rejected refugees, rejected for whatever reason, should not be in Canada, and they certainly should not be getting better health care than Canadians. When will it end?

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

Mr. Speaker, the use of the interim federal health program has declined by 43% quite recently. We will continue to see that, because we are seeing a dramatic decline in the number of people seeking asylum in this country. It is down by a third, in fact. Let us go one step further, though, and question the premise of the question. Refugees make up 1% of the country's population. Are Conservatives trying to tell us seriously now that refugees are to blame for challenges in the health care system?

The Conservatives demonize, they play right-wing politics and they embrace populism. It is no way forward. We will focus on Canadians.

Health

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government spent almost $300 million on a national prescribing software that filled less than 5% of all prescriptions. Now it has cancelled it entirely, yet 85% of the technology used is in the private hands of Telus Health. That is the definition of wasteful spending of tax dollars.

Will the health minister explain to Canadians how she wasted $300 million on PrescribeIT?

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague and I both work on the health committee, and I respect her work on health issues and also on this topic.

As the member knows, PrescribeIT was developed and introduced under the previous government at a request of the provinces and territories. Unfortunately the uptake was not high enough, so our new government has decided to end the program.

At the same time, we have introduced a connected care bill, through the Senate, which would increase interoperability for digital tools and solutions. This would help improve health care and connectivity for patients in Canada.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if a private sector staff employee wasted $300 million, they would be fired, but the Liberals have fired no one for their PrescribeIT disaster. I questioned the CEO responsible. He would not say where things went wrong. He even refused to say how much taxpayers paid him.

Why is the minister hiding the truth on this $300-million boondoggle?

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, PrescribeIT was introduced in the last Parliament, under the last government, at the request of provinces and territories. Unfortunately, the uptake was not high. There were a lot of lessons learned.

We continue to collaborate with the provinces and territories on a path forward. At the same time, we will support provinces and territories on their digital solutions with Bill S-5.

International Trade

[David McKenzie, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's ambassador to the U.S. says Canada is ready, willing and able to start the CUSMA review. The USTR says the U.S. is ready to talk, so what is the delay? This reminds me of a grade seven school dance. Everyone wants to dance, but no one will be the first to ask. There are 2.6 million Canadian jobs that rely on trade with the U.S., and tariffs are costing Canadians billions.

When will the Prime Minister pick up the phone and get moving on the U.S. trade deal that he promised Canadians?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, Canada-U.S. trade relations are vitally important. They support millions of jobs on both sides of the border. They support our workers, our industries and our businesses. With our new advisory council, we will continue to take a team Canada approach to the CUSMA review.

Taxation

[Chris Malette, Liberal, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in the face of rising fuel prices, which are being driven by global instability, Canadians expect and deserve timely, meaningful and tangible relief. That is exactly what the good people of the Bay of Quinte experienced recently when they went to fill up at the gas station. Suspending the fuel excise tax until Labour Day is expected to reduce Canada's price at the pump by about 10¢ a litre.

In advance of next week's spring economic update, can the Minister of Finance let Canadians know how this and other measures are helping to put money back in the pockets of Canadians?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Finance and National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, what a great question from a great MP from the good people of Bay of Quinte. I know that at home they are celebrating this great member.

It is true. People are starting to see at the pump the result of our measure to suspend the federal fuel excise tax. It is not only the good people from the Bay of Quinte who are seeing this, but also people across the nation. I know the Conservatives will join us in saying that this is a measure to help with affordability.

The good news is that it is not the only one. We have already done that with grocery prices. We will always be there for Canadians.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, it has now been widely reported in the media that part of the Liberal strategy to get Trump's tariffs removed is to delay.

Yesterday at the foreign affairs committee, the Canadian ambassador to the United States said that they have detailed analysis on exactly how much this hurts Canadian businesses. They know the cost, so if the Brampton auto plant closes, that is no problem. It is part of the delay strategy. If steel mills close, that is no problem. It is part of the delay strategy. If tens of thousands of Canadians lose their jobs, that is no problem. It is part of the delay strategy.

At what point do they say enough is enough, that there have been enough job losses and enough pain, and stop this strategy of delay?

[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, Canada already has the best deal among U.S. trading partners in the world, and we are working hard to maintain that deal. We continue to engage with our American and our Mexican counterparts to review CUSMA. At the same time, Canadians gave us a mandate to expand our non-U.S. trade with the world. That is what we are doing. The third prong of that is working together with the provinces, territories, industries and unions. Every Canadian is working together to prepare for this.

We are ready to build. This is what Canadians sent us to do. We are going to build Canada strong.