Justin Trudeau

[Indigenous Affairs, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, since 2016, we have been working in close partnership with the people of Kashechewan on their request to relocate their community. The minister met with the chief yesterday. The community has identified the site it believes would be best to relocate to. Work is under way to build a new road, secure the land and design the new community, always in partnership with the people of Kashechewan. For 17 years now, these people have had to evacuate every time there is a flood. The situation is unacceptable and we will work with them to fix it.

[Indigenous Affairs, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we agree that 17 years of flooding in Kashechewan is absolutely unacceptable. That is why the minister met with the chief yesterday to continue the work that we have been doing since 2016.

Since 2016, we have been working in close partnership with Kashechewan on its request to relocate to higher ground. The community has identified the location to which it believes would be best to relocate. Work is right now under way to build a new road, to secure the land and to design the new community, but always and every moment in partnership with the people of Kashechewan.

[Government Appointments, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has always believed in the independence of the judiciary and the importance of standing up for the independence of our institutions.

Indeed, all judicial appointments now follow our new, open, independent, transparent and merit-based process. This process replaced the old opaque system that was in place under the previous government.

Political activity or donations have no impact on a person's candidacy or selection for judicial appointment. Our government has appointed people who have donated or been involved with parties of all political stripes.

[Government Priorities, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the first thing we did after being elected was to lower taxes for the middle class and raise them on the wealthy. Next, we brought in the Canada child benefit, which benefits nine out of 10 families and has lifted 300,000 children out of poverty. The NDP voted against those two measures.

We succeeded in lifting 800,000 Canadians out of poverty in our first two years in office. We continue to meet our commitments by investing in infrastructure and our communities and by helping families, students and seniors directly. We are going to continue with our approach.

[Foreign Affairs, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, for 10 years the Conservative failed to get anything done to get reasonable growth for the economy. Indeed, Stephen Harper and the Conservatives had the lowest growth record of any prime minister since R. B. Bennett in the depths of the Great Depression. We turned that around.

We have created 900,000 new jobs across the country. We have the lowest unemployment in 40 years. On international engagement and trade, we are now the only G7 country that has a free trade deal with every other G7 country. Two-thirds of the global economy is accessible to Canada now because of the work that this government has done.

[Foreign Affairs, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the facts. The Conservatives wanted us to capitulate to the Americans on NAFTA, and we got the right deal for Canadians. We were the ones able to close the deal on CETA, which the Conservatives had dead in the water. On the CPTPP, we fought and got a good deal for Canadians and we did that by holding strong.

The Conservatives have been asking us for days to do something on canola. We have been working on it for weeks, including with our partners out west, like Premier Scott Moe.

We are going to continue to deliver for Canadians. We are going to continue to fight for Canadians.

[Foreign Affairs, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, this government has and will continue to consistently stand up for Canadians at home and all around the world. That is why we were proud to announce this morning that we are standing up for canola farmers by moving forward with a maximum loan limit increase to $1 million for all farmers, and indeed, for canola farmers, an interest-free loan increase to $500,000.

On top of that, we stand up every day for the Canadians who are unjustly and arbitrarily detained in China. We know that engaging strongly and forcefully around the world is the way we are going to—

[Foreign Affairs, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, as part of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Canada joins countries such as Australia, France, Germany, India, Italy, South Korea and the U.K. in promoting inclusive global economic growth. The bank supports clean and green infrastructure investments throughout Asia.

The Conservatives want us to close our eyes and our doors to investments around the world, like in landslide mitigation in Sri Lanka, like in flood management in the Phillippines, like in irrigation modernization in Indonesia. That is not what Canadians expect. They expect us to be engaged positively in the world and—

[Foreign Affairs, May 1st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, as part of the bank, Canada joins many countries such as Great Britain, Germany, and Australia in promoting inclusive global economic growth. The Conservatives are misleading Canadians by suggesting that it would be good for Canada to withdraw funds that are earmarked for landslide mitigation in Sri Lanka, flood management in the Phillippines and irrigation modernization in Indonesia.

We will continue to be engaged in helping people throughout the world. That is what Canadians expect from any Canadian government.

[Indigenous Affairs, April 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. We have been working with the community of Kashechewan over the past years on relocation. We have made significant commitments, and we understand that this needs to be done in partnership.

What the community members in Kashechewan have gone through over the past 17 years of relocations is unacceptable. That is why we are committed to working forward with them. The community identified the location it believes would be best to relocate to. Work is under way right now to build a new road, to secure the land and to design the new community, in partnership every step of the way with the people of Kashechewan.