Justin Trudeau

[Health, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, it concerns me that in the middle of a pandemic, where health is on everyone's mind, the opposition health critic does not understand that it is not my job to approve tests, it is not the job of the Prime Minister or any politicians to approve tests; it is the job of our professional independent public servants, who we trust to do those jobs.

Maybe she thinks it is all about politics. It is not; it is about protecting Canadians and saving lives. That is what has guided this government every step of the way in this pandemic, science not politics.

[Health, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, $25 billion, that is what we have sent to the provinces so they can invest in testing, in contact tracing. We sent that over the summer for vulnerable people, for back to school, to support their health systems. We understand how important it is for the federal government to be there to support Canadians directly and to support the provinces.

I certainly look forward to continuing to work with the provinces on delivering these tests that they need. We delivered rapid tests to all the provinces and hopefully soon some of the provinces will start deploying those rapid tests that we have delivered to them by the millions.

[Official Languages, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is a little strange and worrisome that the Bloc is working so closely with the Conservatives on the issue of the French fact in Quebec and Canada, given that the Conservative Party has a tradition of chipping away at the rights of francophones outside Quebec and attacking the French fact by refusing to commit to appointing only judges who could speak French to the Supreme Court.

We will always stand up for the French fact in Canada. We will always stand up for the French language and the French identity in Canada. That is something people can count on the Liberal Party to do.

[Official Languages, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, speaking of the court challenges program, I would like to remind the House that we are the ones who reinstated that program after the Conservatives scrapped it twice. We reinstated it so that people would be able to defend themselves when their rights are violated, and those people include the many francophones who want to be able to live in their own beautiful language. That is and always will be important to us.

With regard to Bill 101, we recognize that, in order for Canada to be bilingual, Quebec must first and foremost be francophone. That is why we support Bill 101 in what it does for Quebec, and that is why it is important to manage official bilingualism across the country.

[Justice, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we brought in a robust, independent, merit-based process that helps us get quality judges to the bench across the country.

The leader of the official opposition referenced the media and Democracy Watch, but just look at what the Conservatives did to these two groups when they were in government. The process was completely botched under Harper, and our improvements have made Canada's judiciary more diverse.

[Justice, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, once again, several years ago, we put in place an independent, merit-based process.

Thanks to our process, high-quality judges with diverse interests, backgrounds and political histories have been appointed across the country. We selected a record number of women and a record number of people from diverse communities. We are improving the judicial appointment process. We will continue to ensure that judges of indisputable quality are appointed across the country.

[Justice, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, we brought in a merit-based process for judicial appointments.

After years of Conservative patronage for its friends and allies, we put in place a system for appointing judges based on merit and on independent recommendations. Now these judges reflect the geographic, ethnic and political diversity of our country. It is important for our judiciary to reflect the reality of our country.

[Natural Resources, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, this is what Conservatives simply do not understand. We cannot get projects built, and we cannot move forward to create good jobs for Canadians, if we do not have a plan for the environment at the same time, and if we are not committing to fight climate change.

That is where Conservatives are stuck in ideologies of decades past. Canadians know that the only way forward with Americans and people around the world is to show real leadership on climate change, the kind of leadership we have shown over the past five years.

When will Conservatives wake up and realize that to protect jobs, they need to fight climate change?

[Natural Resources, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, here is the problem that Conservatives face: Any time someone talks about doing right by the environment, or building a greener or cleaner future, they think it is an attack on workers, the oil sands and the energy industry, when, indeed, moving forward on protecting the environment is the best way to ensure jobs and security for our energy workers and our energy industries.

We know that international investors and consumers are looking for people with plans, with resolve and with a lower carbon future. That is what we are working on building right across the country. Energy, environment and economy go together.

[Natural Resources, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I have supported that project for the past seven years. I actually went down to Washington, D.C., to speak to a room full of Democrats before I was Prime Minister to talk about how important that project is for Canadian and American energy security.

I will continue to bring that up. We continue to work on it. I brought it up in a conversation with President-elect Joe Biden. It was in our very first conversation. We will continue to work together on fighting climate change, ensuring energy security and building a better future for all of our citizens.