Justin Trudeau

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, we have not waited. We are continuing to increase our supports to individuals, communities, first nations, the north and provinces. Every step of the way during this pandemic, the federal government has made this promise: We have Canadians' backs. That is exactly what we have done and what we will continue to do for as long as it takes, whatever it takes.

I look forward to working with all members of this House to make sure we are moving forward on getting Canadians the supports they need. Every step of the way, this government will be there for Canadians.

[COVID-19 Emergency Response, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of this pandemic, we have been there to help Canadians, families, young people, seniors and workers. We have been there to help businesses, both small and large, and communities. We have been there to provide personal protective equipment and testing supplies to the provinces. We have sent the provinces more than $25 billion to help them get ready for this second wave, and we will continue to work with them.

We will continue to be there for all Canadians during this pandemic. For as long as it lasts, we will be there as a federal government.

[Official Languages, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, people might well be wondering why the Bloc Québécois keeps hammering us on this subject when we actually agree with them on it. We must continue to protect the French fact in Canada and in Quebec because, yes, the danger is real and the decline is real.

Why, then, is the member trying to pick a fight over something we agree on? It is because he does not want to admit that a federal government is delivering for Quebeckers, whether through the CERB, money for small businesses or the battle we are waging against COVID-19 in lockstep with the Quebec government.

It must be so awful for the Bloc Québécois to see a strong federal government.

[Official Languages, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always been there for the French fact in Quebec and across Canada, and we will continue to be there.

As a Montreal MP and a proud Montrealer and Quebecker, I am concerned about the fact that many people cannot get service in French in Montreal. That is unacceptable. That is why we will keep working to defend the French language and stand by Quebeckers to defend our culture, our language and our identity, as well as the environment and economic growth. Quebeckers can count on our federal government to be here throughout the pandemic.

[Official Languages, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition wants to show his commitment to the French language, will he promise today to appoint only bilingual judges to the Supreme Court of Canada? That is something he did not want to do and we will see whether he agrees to do that.

We will always be there to defend the French language and defend the French fact in Quebec and across Canada. That is why we deplore the comments made by the member for Saint-Laurent and that is why we are pleased that she apologized for what she said.

[Official Languages, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I do not need any lectures from a party that still refuses to commit to appointing only bilingual justices to the Supreme Court.

We have always done what is necessary to defend the French fact in Canada, including in Quebec, as we said in the throne speech. We know how important it is to promote the French language across the country and also to protect the French language in Quebec, in partnership with the Government of Quebec.

[Health, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell the House that when I speak with Canadians from coast to coast to coast, they are not asking me about QP. They are asking me about COVID. That is continuing to be what we are working on as our entire focus.

Every step of the way, whether it has been in stepping up on PPE or stepping up on testing and, indeed, on rapid testing, which we have delivered to the provinces, with the provinces now evaluating how they want to deploy it, we have been there to deliver all of these things that Canadians need. We will be there to deliver on vaccines, as we have had their backs in every other way during this pandemic.

[Health, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, the number one question I get from Canadians these days, and actually over the past nine or 10 months, has been this: When is this all going to be over? How much longer are we going to have to go through this? That is what Canadians want to know.

Of course, now that we see there are vaccines on the horizon, people are very excited about it. What I can tell the House is that we are in for a number of more months of needing to do the right things before these vaccines start landing anywhere around the world.

That is why we are working very hard to make sure that Canadians get those vaccines the right way and properly. We are working very hard on a range of different vaccine delivery methods, and we will be there to support Canadians.

[Health, November 18th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that the best way to get through this COVID crisis is with vaccines. That is why we have been working since the summer on signing deals with a record number of companies around the world to ensure that wherever or however someone gets the right vaccine, it will be available in Canada.

We are actually positioned better than just about any other country in the world in terms of access to a robust portfolio of vaccines because we took leadership as a government and got it done. We are also ensuring that we are going to be able to distribute those vaccines as they become available across Canada. Canadians can count on us.

[Taxation, November 17th, 2020]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, the very first thing this government did in 2015 when we got elected was to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1%, so that we could lower them for the middle class. What did the NDP do? They voted against it.

Every step of the way we have been there to support the middle class, to support people working hard to join it and to make sure Canadians got ahead, whether it was with a million jobs created over the past five years or a million people lifted out of poverty at the same time. We will continue to fight for Canadians and for their success.