Debates of June 3rd, 2026

International Trade

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and to the Secretary of State (International Development)]

Mr. Speaker, as the minister before me said, forced labour is absolutely unacceptable. That is why we are always working hard to ensure that we have our supply chain completely protected. That is why various departments within the Government of Canada, as per the strict laws we have in place, work all the time to ensure that we stop any shipments that are a result of forced labour. In fact, that is why, in all our trade agreements, we make sure that we have stringent labour provisions to uphold international labour standards.

We will continue to do so, to make sure that we protect Canadian workers and workers abroad.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, Donald Trump's tariffs are unjustified and indefensible, but so is forced labour. The Liberal government has done nothing to protect Canadians from products made with slave labour. For example, the Americans, under Joe Biden, blocked 6,949 shipments of goods from the Xinjiang region. The Liberal government has blocked two.

When will the Liberal government ban products from Xinjiang?

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and to the Secretary of State (International Development)]

Mr. Speaker, forced labour is unacceptable. We must ensure that our global supply chains are free of these kinds of abusive practices. We are working closely with the relevant minister and the entire government to reduce forced labour in the supply chain.

This is also why we are making it a priority to have comprehensive labour provisions included in the free trade agreement, to promote international labour standards.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the question was for the Prime Minister. We already know that Canadian workers lose out every time the country imports a product made with forced labour, because that reduces wages and takes jobs away from Canadians. Canadians are also losing out because of the U.S. tariffs on goods purchased from regions where forced labour is used.

When will the Prime Minister finally take action to ban all products from the Xinjiang province?

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and to the Secretary of State (International Development)]

Mr. Speaker, all goods entering the country are subject to import controls and rigorous verification processes. The Canada Border Services Agency conducts risk analyses to identify and intercept any goods that are likely to have been produced using forced labour, and it reports back to Parliament every year.

We will protect Canada's interests while standing up for high labour standards for all workers.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Prime Minister was asked a direct question. He refuses to stand up, and he cannot even condemn forced labour and slavery, because it runs counter to his corporate interests. This is the old story with him.

A small group of Liberal insiders, members of the club, multinational corporations, get fabulously rich, making everyone else terribly poor. While his corporate profits have gone up, and he is dodging his taxes on those profits, the Canadian people are suffering even more with the only recession in the G20.

Will he stand up today and reverse those policies?

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and to the Secretary of State (International Development)]

Mr. Speaker, it is worth repeating that forced labour is completely unacceptable. We take all steps necessary to ensure that we keep our supply chain free from forced labour. We, in fact, put a lot of work and rigour into ensuring that, in all our trade agreements, we have stringent labour standards and provisions according to international labour standards.

We will continue to do that work. We will continue to enforce our laws. We will continue to make sure that our supply chain is free of forced labour so that we can protect Canadian workers and workers abroad.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians suffer, the Prime Minister is silent. He sits back while 112,000 jobs have been lost in the first three months of this year alone. We have the second-highest unemployment and the only recession in the G20. We have an economy that has lost investment in five consecutive quarters, and $20 billion of net investment has fled the country. There is a 32% increase in mortgage delinquencies, and people who cannot make their monthly payments risk losing their homes.

Will the Prime Minister stand up in the House of Commons and at least acknowledge that he created this recession so that he can tell us how he is going to reverse the policies so that we can get out of it?

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

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we have been busy building the strongest economy in the G7. We started with budget 2025, with generational investments in infrastructure, housing, productivity and defence, and the numbers that just came out prove it.

In a sense, we have seen a record level of investment in this country. We have seen that investment in machinery and equipment is up. We have seen that investment in intellectual property is up. We have seen that government spending is down.

We are going to build the strongest economy in the G7.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, instead of standing and answering the question, the Liberal Prime Minister has his finance minister not just state slogan after slogan, but slogans that are exactly false.

One of their slogans is: The fastest-growing economy in the G7. He has the only recession in the G7. The other slogan is: more investment. Statistics Canada says business capital investment fell 0.7% in the first quarter of 2026, the fifth consecutive quarterly decline. Then he says that government spending is down. He has doubled the deficit.

Why is it whenever the Liberals say something is up, it is down?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am quite happy to talk about numbers with the Leader of the Opposition. In fact, the OECD came out this morning to say that Canada would have the second-fastest growing economy for 2026-27.

More importantly, on this side of the House we are focused on affordability. The good news is that, on June 5, 12 million Canadians will receive support. On this side of the House, we know how to build a strong economy. We know how to build a resilient economy, and we know how to take care of Canadians in their time of need. We will build Canada strong for all.

Infrastructure

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our government is making historic investments to help communities build the infrastructure they need to grow and prosper. Yesterday, we announced a major agreement with Quebec to support public transit and the infrastructure that is essential to our communities. These investments help build stronger, better-connected communities across Quebec.

Can the minister explain how this agreement will translate into meaningful benefits for Quebeckers and their communities?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

Yesterday, with the Government of Quebec, we announced more than $10 billion for infrastructure and public transit. This is one of the biggest investments in the history of Quebec. We are supporting the infrastructure needed for housing construction, health care infrastructure, and public transportation projects. Now is the time to build.

Health

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Mr. Speaker, documents now reveal that the Liberals' $300-million PrescribeIT failure processed fewer than 5% of prescriptions at its peak. That means that, after burning through $300 million, PrescribeIT failed to deliver 95% of prescriptions.

When Conservatives on the health committee tried to investigate, Liberal MPs turned off the cameras. Then they abruptly shut down meetings. Yesterday, they blocked an emergency meeting to prevent the health minister from testifying.

Why are the Liberals blocking the health committee from investigating the $300-million PrescribeIT scandal?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering why the Conservatives keep blocking the committee study on HIV. I do not think the Conservatives are all that interested in health issues. Since I have spoken with them several times about PrescribeIT, perhaps they could let the committee work move forward before we talk about that again.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are denying Canadians transparency on the $300 million that was wasted on PrescribeIT. At the health committee, they turned off the cameras, shut down meetings and blocked the minister from testifying. Conservatives are prepared to work through the summer to get to the bottom of this scandal.

Why are the Liberals blocking the health committee from investigating this $300-million PrescribeIT failure?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I will say it again: The Conservatives are blocking the committee's study on AIDS because they are not interested in this country-wide crisis. Meanwhile, I appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance the day before yesterday and a Conservative member asked me questions about the PrescribeIT program, which I answered. I believe I have answered the Conservatives' questions.

[Matt Strauss, Conservative, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is a question the Minister of Health has never answered. She knows that PrescribeIT was a $300-million waste of taxpayer money. She knows the organization in charge of that program was so badly run she had to get the CEO fired just last month.

Given that she knows all this, what I cannot understand is why she would give that same organization, one that cannot point to one tangible thing it has accomplished in 10 years, another $50 million of taxpayer money this year? It does not make sense.

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I was unaware that I had given the organization money. There is a big difference between budgeting for $50 million and actually disbursing it. What I want to say to the opposition is that, as I already told them, we are currently reviewing the organization's mandate. At the same time, I would argue that, yes, Canadians need connected health systems. We need health data infrastructure across the country.

Finance

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey Newton, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have spent the last week talking down Canada's economy, industries and workers. Meanwhile, our government is making historic investments to grow the economy and strengthen Canada's future, from tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure to reaching NATO's 2% target, and $6 billion for the skilled trades.

Can the minister tell Canadians how these investments are helping us respond to economic headwinds and build a more resilient and prosperous economy?

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

Mr. Speaker, what a great question from a great member who has great leadership.

I have some good news. I know that the Conservatives can't see good news when it is in front of them, but let me tell them something. In budget 2025, we laid the foundation for growth in this country. We made generational investment in housing, generational investment in infrastructure, generational investment in productivity and innovation, and generational investment in our defence. That is leading us to have the second-fastest growth in the G7.

We are going to build Canada strong together.

The Economy

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we just had a lengthy question period, but once again, the Prime Minister has shown us that when adversity strikes, he does not stand up. He answered only six questions from the Leader of the Opposition and gave no explanation as to why Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. We will give him another chance.

Can he stand up and explain to us why, after all his grand speeches and empty promises, and despite the fact that all G20 countries are facing the same global conditions, Canada is the only country experiencing a Liberal recession?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the member for being the fourth member other than the Leader of the Opposition to be allowed to ask a question today.

Canadians do not understand why, on a day when we are announcing major investments in the forestry communities of Quebec and Canada, and the day after announcing $10 billion in infrastructure across Quebec, this member from Quebec cannot talk about the progress being achieved in Quebec.

Indigenous Affairs

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has sidelined Bill S-2 as amended, despite a court-ordered deadline to end sex- and race-based discrimination and the second-generation cut-off in the Indian Act. The UN has called on Canada to fix this by adopting Bill S-2 as amended. The majority of first nations agree and do not want more consultation. Officials and ministers say it is up to the Prime Minister.

Will the Prime Minister stop the delay tactics, meet with first nations women leaders, as requested, and pass Bill S-2 as amended, now, to end the discrimination and violations of the charter and international law?

[Mandy Gull-Masty, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, I think the member is well aware that Bill S-2 is in front of the committee for study. I welcome her input.

We are there to ensure that enfranchisement, the intention of the bill, is responded to. We continue to work closely with groups across the country, hearing their input. I am open to supporting these communities, because enfranchisement quantifies who indigenous people are under the Indian Act.

We are trying to ensure that we remove the barriers of the Indian Act for first nations people in this country. I am working on that.