House of Commons Hansard #116 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was survivors.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Criminal Code Report stage of Bill S-228. The bill, Bill S-228, seeks to explicitly amend the Criminal Code to define forced and coerced sterilization as aggravated assault. Supporters from all parties argue this legislative clarity is essential to protect bodily autonomy, address systemic discrimination—particularly against Indigenous women—and provide accountability for a practice that remains a modern reality rather than just a historical injustice. 7200 words, 1 hour.
Bill C-11—Time Allocation Motion Members debate the government’s motion to impose time allocation on Bill C-11, which transfers military sexual assault cases to civilian courts. Liberals contend the policy is essential for restoring institutional trust, while opposition members argue closure undermines democratic committee scrutiny. Debate also considers whether survivors should have a choice of jurisdiction. 4600 words, 2 hours.
Military Justice System Modernization Act Report stage of Bill C-11. The bill amends the National Defence Act to transfer sexual misconduct cases within the armed forces to civilian courts. Conservatives and Bloc members, citing recent committee work, argue the legislation should allow survivors to choose which justice system handles their cases. Conversely, Liberals contend that the mandatory transfer is a key recommendation of landmark reports and essential for independence. The opposition heavily criticizes the government for using time allocation to dismiss cross-party amendments. 26000 words, 3 hours in 2 segments: 1 2.
Ministerial Compliance with Order in Council Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay supports a question of privilege regarding the government's failure to table annual reports from the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, arguing this impedes parliamentary oversight of human rights abuses involving Canadian companies. 900 words, 10 minutes.
Framework on the Access to and Use of Cash Act First reading of Bill C-276. The bill establishes a national framework protecting access to physical cash and mandates parliamentary approval for the creation or issuance of any central bank digital currency in Canada. 200 words.
Natural ResourcesOral Questions
The Speaker Francis Scarpaleggia
I do not think the member is alluding to a specific time when the Prime Minister might be leaving for Europe, but we have to be careful. This is really trying to do indirectly what we are not supposed to do directly.
The hon. member for Simcoe North.
Adam Chambers Conservative Simcoe North, ON
Mr. Speaker, what is the purpose of all the travel, the meetings and the MOUs if there is nothing tangible to show for it? The Europeans have repeatedly asked for Canadian liquefied natural gas. They probably would like to invest in a port or a pipeline to get Canadian energy to Europe.
We do not need speeches, we do not need MOUs, we do not need summits and we do not need a government-run hedge fund. We need investable projects to get Canada's energy to the world.
Will the minister announce on which date Canadian LNG will make it to the shores of Europe?
Tim Hodgson LiberalMinister of Energy and Natural Resources
Mr. Speaker, what I can tell the member opposite is that we have European governments contracting with LNG facilities today to buy LNG from Canada. Shell, a European company, just invested $20 billion into Canada because it wants to build more LNG here. Maybe the Conservatives could read the papers.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Mr. Speaker, behind all the talk, the Prime Minister is just another Liberal. He is more expensive, more anti-resource and more misleading. He is well aware that Canada already has free trade agreements with Europe. Those are all in place. What we need is for he and his government to just get out of the way and stop blocking our biggest export. He said we would build at speeds never seen before, but so far our biggest exports under the government are speeches, handshakes and photo ops.
Does the Prime Minister know when the first shipment of Canadian LNG will arrive in Europe?
Steven MacKinnon LiberalMinister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as my colleague, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, just said, there is currently liquefied natural gas leaving Canada, hundreds of millions of dollars' worth, which will employ Canadians, give royalties to governments and involve indigenous participation. That goes with the hundreds of billions of dollars of other major projects currently being constructed in Canada.
We are building big, we are building with Canadians and we are going to build Canada strong.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Mr. Speaker, let us deal in facts.
It is a fact that the Prime Minister has not signed any new free trade deals. He signed empty, non-binding MOUs and burned taxpayer dollars to jet around the world for his chief export: hot air. It is a fact that Canadians need results, not illusions. They need tariffs dropped and the Prime Minister to keep his promise to protect Canadian jobs. It is a fact that Europeans have been pleading for a secure and stable source of energy.
While the Prime Minister is overseas, will he tell us when his new pipeline will deliver LNG to Europeans? I would like just the date.
Steven MacKinnon LiberalMinister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the member may have missed the news last week, which said that $4 billion of capital from Enbridge, including over 10% indigenous participation, will go to putting shovels in the ground this summer for a natural gas pipeline. What will it go to? It will go to an LNG plant that goes to world markets, creating jobs, wealth and opportunity for Canadians all over this country.
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Immigration bungled a simple decision to stop a known IRGC terrorist from entering our country, and Canadians still do not have clear evidence that the terrorist was stopped and turned back. There are reports, in fact, that say he just turned himself around and left the country.
The Liberals are keeping the minister from answering questions, because they are concerned about what she will say next.
Everyone is wondering why the Prime Minister is protecting the minister and not letting her answer questions. Can he tell Canadians, please, why she still has a job?
Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions
Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park Ontario
Liberal
Gary Anandasangaree LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, ensuring the safety and security of Canadians is our top priority. I want to assure all Canadians that Canada has rigorous admissibility requirements. We have been very clear that IRGC members and all senior Iranian officials are inadmissible to Canada. If they are already in Canada, they will go through a removals process expeditiously.
We will continue to work with our border, immigration and law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.
Vincent Ho Conservative Richmond Hill South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal immigration minister says she is “accountable” but not responsible for dropping the ball when letting terrorists into Canada. Letting in a known terrorist should have set off every alarm bell in the Liberal government, yet just last week, the visitor permit of an Iranian regime-linked individual was specifically exempted and his entry into Canada rubber-stamped under the Liberal minister's watch. A simple Google search could have stopped this.
Worse, the Liberal Prime Minister is letting the minister keep her job. Does that mean the Prime Minister is responsible but not accountable for the failures of his Liberal immigration minister?
Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions
Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park Ontario
Liberal
Gary Anandasangaree LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure all Canadians that no IRGC member was admitted into Canada. Our government has been clear that IRGC members and all senior officials of the Iranian government are inadmissible to Canada. We have rigorous processes in place to ensure that anyone in the country who has ties to the IRGC goes through a removals process.
We will continue to work with our border, immigration and law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety and security of all Canadians.
Fred Davies Conservative Niagara South, ON
Mr. Speaker, the media panels have given up on this immigration minister. Bob Fife, the bureau chief of The Globe and Mail, called her performance “pathetic” and her “incompetent” twice in the same panel. Even CBC's David Cochrane said, “when they fall back on privacy, process and the passive voice, it's usually a sign of some trouble.”
Immigration is a serious issue and the Prime Minister is ultimately accountable for the minister's failures. When will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility, and fire this minister?
Lena Metlege Diab LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the love from members on the other side. I know they know that we are restoring control, balance, sustainability and integrity to our immigration system. The facts show this.
We have new express entry categories to grow our economy. We have strengthened our rural immigration pathways. We are facilitating work permits for researchers and Ph.D. students. We have surpassed our francophone immigration targets. The list can go on.
We have 5,000 additional physicians coming to—
Immigration, Refugees and CitizenshipOral Questions
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Mr. Speaker, wow, I did not know that we had express entry for terrorists.
It is clear that everyone has lost faith in the Minister of Immigration overseeing even the simplest parts of her job. This is the seventh Liberal immigration minister, and Conservatives knew from day one that she would make the mess worse.
The media are now calling for the minister to be removed. Liberal MPs have called for this minister to be removed. This is now about the Prime Minister's own judgment. She says that she meets with the Prime Minister every week. He seems oblivious to the mess she has created.
Will the Prime Minister end this national embarrassment and fire this immigration minister?
Lena Metlege Diab LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, let me continue with my list because I need a couple of hours for that.
We are bringing our numbers down. We are strengthening oversight. We have an action plan that would restore integrity to our immigration system. CBSA removed 22,000 people from the country last year. We brought in Bill C-12, which the Conservatives opposed in the beginning, but they saw the light at the end. That bill will put additional security in place. I have also put in place the foundation of an exit tracking system, which Canada needs in this country.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, today the minister said that she would continue issuing tens of thousands of new foreign student permits, in spite of millions of non-citizens being in Canada on expired or expiring permits and her admission that the Liberals have absolutely no way to track whether or not they have left. Fraud is still running unchecked in her department. They cannot detect it.
When asked in committee what the Prime Minister thought of these failures, the minister claimed she has weekly meetings with him and that she talks to him all the time. That begs the question, does the Prime Minister actually think she is doing a good job?
Lena Metlege Diab LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the official figures. If we compare the first two months of 2026 with the first two months of 2024, we see that asylum applications have fallen by two-thirds and that arrivals of temporary residents have dropped by more than 70%.
We are restoring control, balance and sustainability to immigration. The facts prove it, and Canadians can see it for themselves.
Sima Acan Liberal Oakville West, ON
Mr. Speaker, it was great to spend this weekend with Oakville firefighters. With winter ending, we are reminded of the risk of wildfires, such as the one at Bronte Creek Provincial Park in 2021. With warmer weather, we are also already sadly seeing many communities impacted by flooding.
As emergencies have become more frequent, more severe and more costly, could the Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience let us know what is ongoing to prepare for the upcoming wildfire and flooding seasons to keep Canadians safe?
Eleanor Olszewski LiberalMinister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada
Mr. Speaker, it is Emergency Preparedness Week. This year's theme is “Be Prepared. Know Your Risks.”
Our government is showing leadership by strengthening our emergency preparedness and response capacity. We have increased our aerial firefighting capacity. We are improving federal emergency coordination through our new government operations centre. Just this morning, I announced the renewal of the humanitarian workforce program. We are ready, and we are focused on keeping Canadians safe.
Tako Van Popta Conservative Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister claims that the Liberal government protects private property rights and that it will appeal the Cowichan decision. Here is the problem: At trial, the Liberals dropped the argument that private property rights come first, making it easier for the trial judge to conclude that aboriginal title is a “prior and senior right to land.”
How can the Prime Minister now say that the government will argue on appeal the very opposite, that private property rights come first, when they did not raise it at trial?
Rebecca Alty LiberalMinister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
Mr. Speaker, private property rights are fundamental and our government will always defend them.
We disagree with the B.C. Supreme Court's ruling in the Cowichan case, and we appealed it back in September. Any agreement on aboriginal title at the federal level has always and will always protect private property. The federal government has been signing agreements with first nations since the 1970s. No agreement between the federal government and first nations has ever led to Canadians losing their privately owned land. Our government will continue to advance reconciliation and protect the private property rights of Canadians.
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes, ON
Mr. Speaker, in 2018, the Liberals and the NDP of British Columbia made a deliberate decision to instruct their lawyers not to defend private property rights in the Cowichan case. Now, years later, that same case is before the courts on appeal, and the government finds itself unable to make the very argument that Canadian homeowners expect, which is that their private property rights come first.
How does the Prime Minister expect to win, on appeal, the protection of private property rights within the city of Richmond with an argument he is unable to make?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, it is important that we correct the factual record. Since 2017, the federal government has been asking the court to notify private landowners of the case so that they may participate. More recently, we have decided to support the Montrose application, which is all about the rights of private property owners and would allow them to potentially advance arguments that they were not able to make at trial.
We are able to walk down the path of reconciliation and protect the rights of private property owners at the same time. Our next argument will be presented when we appeal the decision, because we disagree with the superior courts. I hope all members of the House can move forward with the full appreciation of the federal government's position when it comes to the protection of property rights in British Columbia and across the country.
Helena Konanz Conservative Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
Mr. Speaker, the Cowichan decision has left many residents across our communities concerned about their private property rights. The Liberals are now talking about how they will defend property rights in court, but they never made this argument in Cowichan before. Appeals are not do overs. They cannot raise new arguments they never argued before.
How will government lawyers argue what Liberals MPs are arguing here when they did not do so at trial?