Justin Trudeau

[Veterans Affairs, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we are grateful to the women and men who served in Afghanistan for their work and their sacrifices.

The chief of the defence staff has apologized and has confirmed that the memorial will be accessible to anyone who wishes to visit it, whenever they like.

We are working on creating a public monument that recognizes the service of our men and women in uniform throughout the war in Afghanistan. We held consultations with veterans, their families and stakeholders. We will select the location of the monument in partnership with the National Capital Commission. We will always stand up for our veterans and remember their sacrifices.

[Veterans Affairs, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the well-being and financial security of our veterans has always been our top priority. The Conservatives cut veterans services to try to balance the budget at all costs.

Our investment of over $10 billion provides more support to veterans. Thanks to our promise to reintroduce a new pension for life program, every injured veteran should be getting better support now than under the former system. I have asked the Minister of Veterans Affairs to ensure that that is always the case.

[Veterans Affairs, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the well-being and financial security of our veterans has been our priority ever since we took office, because the Conservatives gutted Veterans Affairs to balance the budget and used them for photo ops.

We made investments of over $10 billion in new dollars in Canada's veterans so they are better supported. We are delivering on the promise to reintroduce the new pension for life, and that policy was designed so that every injured veteran is better off under our new system than they were under the old one. I have instructed Veterans Affairs to ensure that that is the case in every single case.

[Air Transportation, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I had the tremendous pleasure of being in northern Saskatchewan just a week and a half ago to meet with folks in Meadow Lake to see the extraordinary work that is being done as we continue to invest in communities across northern Saskatchewan and, indeed, in indigenous communities right across the country.

Reconciliation happens when we work in partnership and when we invest historic amounts of money in communities, but mostly when we give communities the strength and ability to build their own futures. That is what reconciliation means and that is what we will continue with.

[International Trade, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the negotiation of NAFTA was a long and difficult process, but throughout it we could count on Canadians from all different backgrounds who had our backs as a government, and that was one of the reasons we got to a great deal.

I was happy that we had former Conservative cabinet ministers supporting us on this. I was also happy that we had so many strong labour leaders supporting us and helping us in the renegotiation of NAFTA. That is why I thank organized labour for their support for this new deal and continue to work with them to protect Canadian jobs.

[News Media Industry, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, defending our strong, independent media is something that is essential to this government, indeed to all Canadians, if we are going to defend our democracy.

That means gathering a range of voices that represent different interests within the media universe to make sure that all voices are heard. We feel that it is important that employees, as well as employers, are heard from on that panel.

The fact that the Conservatives, for many years, unfairly attacked organized labour and attacked unions across this country is now something they are—

[News Media Industry, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, to follow Conservatives' logic, anyone who has been attacked and mistreated by the Conservatives should not have a voice. That is what the 2015 election countered, as Canadians rose up across the country to reject the Conservative attacks and demonization of media, of indigenous peoples, of environmentalists, of hard-working Canadians, of young people.

That approach by the Conservatives is exactly what is going to fail them again this time.

[News Media Industry, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives keep attacking organized labour, but we know that unions and workers are an essential part of our society and that they have a crucially important role to play.

At the same time, we see the Conservatives making the same arguments on this issue that they made when they said we should eliminate the CBC. That is something the Conservatives have wanted for a long time. That is what the leader of the Conservative Party promised in his leadership campaign. We know the Conservatives will always go after the CBC—

[News Media Industry, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, as we know, strong, independent media are vital to democracy. We will always take action to protect them. We recognize that both employers and employees must be part of the discussion on how we will defend our media.

The Conservatives may only want to help the bosses and owners of media networks, but we are concerned about journalists and the plight of workers. We will always stand up for our media so that they can do their job, which is to look at issues with a critical eye and keep Canadians informed.

[News Media Industry, May 29th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the arguments the Conservatives are making on this issue are exactly the same arguments they have always made on why we should be eliminating the CBC. We disagree. We believe in CBC/Radio-Canada as a strong public broadcaster with a mandate to bring to Canadians news that matters to Canadians. We are always going to stand up to defend the CBC against the Conservatives, but indeed defend both employers and employees of media organizations against people who want to undermine them and attack them.