Justin Trudeau

[Government Priorities, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in the House, we voted in favour of Canada's action plan on combatting hate, in favour of the national Holocaust remembrance program, in favour of the Canada housing benefit. However, the Conservatives voted against. We voted in favour of the veterans emergency fund and in favour of the national strategy for the protection of children from sexual exploitation on the Internet. However, the Conservatives voted against.

I recognize that parliamentarians from other parties voted in favour of these good things. The Conservatives continually vote against the interest of Canadians, against direct help for those who need it.

[Government Priorities, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I am always willing to wish everyone in the House and across the country a merry Christmas, but we still have work to do.

We have to present the economic update, which will provide help for Quebeckers and Canadians. It will include investments in our future, while we are dealing with challenges with the Americans. We have work to do during the upcoming spring parliamentary session to add people to the list of those who are eligible for dental care. We are here to provide free prescription contraceptives and free insulin to those who need it. We have work to do, and we are going to do it for Canadians.

[Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I am well aware that members of the Bloc Québécois, like all other parliamentarians in the House, do not take what the Conservative leader is saying very seriously. In fact, very few Quebeckers take this Conservative leader seriously, in light of his position against women's rights, his support for making assault-style weapons legal again and his wish to get rid of the dental care program, which has already helped hundreds of thousands of Quebeckers.

We are here to invest by working with our Bloc Québécois and NDP colleagues to help people. The Conservatives just want to pick fights.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, over these past few years, we have made considerable investments in our border security agency. We have made investments in our police forces.

That is in contrast to the Conservatives, who laid off 1,100 border officers when they were in power. They made cuts to our police services. They made cuts to our border services. They chose to reduce Canada's security while encouraging sales of ever more dangerous firearms.

That is why we made it impossible to buy assault-style weapons, and we will continue to protect Canadians.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians continue to have confidence in immigration as a good thing for our economy, a good thing for our country, because they know we have a strong and rigorous immigration system that adjusts, depending on the needs and the opportunities for Canada to grow and integrate more people. That is what we are continuing to defend. That is what we fight for every single day.

While the Leader of the Opposition talks down Canada, talks down Canadians and puts partisan attacks ahead of reasonable policy solutions, we are going to do the work necessary to protect Canadians and protect our immigration system.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, despite the Leader of the Opposition trying to pretend it is not true, Canada remains the best country in the world, and the fact that we are facing significant challenges, like other places around the world, does not take away from that.

We will continue to roll up our sleeves. We will continue to defend Canada's interests, defend Canada's borders and work with our partners in the United States. The Leader of the Opposition cannot help talking down Canada and Canadians. We are going to work with Canadians, with provinces, in a team Canada approach and protect Canada's structures and systems.

[Mental Health and Addictions, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the toxic drug epidemic has been hitting hard in communities right across the country and, indeed, across North America. That is why we have been stepping up by using an evidence-based, compassion-based, public health-based approach to solving the opioid epidemic and the toxic drug crisis. We are going to continue to lean on scientists, researchers and compassionate frontline workers as we invest to support Canadian families from coast to coast to coast.

It is not more ideology proposed by the Leader of the Opposition that is going to solve this. It is the careful application of reasonable responses.

[Indigenous Affairs, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by thanking the member for Northwest Territories for his tireless advocacy and his leadership. We introduced the first nations clean water act to ensure clean drinking water for generations to come and give first nations the tools to manage their own drinking water infrastructure.

It was shameful that, in the presence of chiefs gathered from across the country, members of the Conservative Party voted to refuse to send that bill to the Senate. They stood against us sending Bill C-61 to the Senate. Shame on them. We need to solve drinking water for generations to come.

[Housing, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we have put significant amounts of money forward for the provinces to tackle the issue of encampments and to tackle homelessness. We have made historic investments in increasing housing and decreasing homelessness. Provinces have been varied in their response to be willing to work with the federal government.

That is why we are working directly with the City of Edmonton and Mayor Sohi to move forward on supports to fight homelessness in Edmonton, just as we are right across the country. It takes investment, compassion and partnership, and that is what we are doing.

[Indigenous Affairs, December 11th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we agree. Incitement to hatred and incitement to violence are not free speech. We need to make sure that the path of reconciliation that this country is on is walked on by everyone.

That is why we have stepped up significantly in our anti-racism strategy while we continue to work with that member on her private member's bill and move forward to make sure that everyone who believes in the better future for Canada, despite all those who continue to attempt to deny residential schools, hold together and prevent denialism from happening.