Justin Trudeau

[Justice, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is pretty rich for the Conservative Party to be lecturing us about standing up for women's rights. That party still refuses to defend a woman's right to choose. That is yet another outdated position they will have to reconsider.

We will always stand up for women's rights. We will always invest in the advancement of women, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it is smart economics. We are going to build a stronger economy with women, instead of putting them in a corner.

[Justice, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we have nothing to learn from the Conservatives about standing up for women's rights in this country. We have been investing in women's equality from day one, with our gender-balanced budget and our unequivocal defence of women's reproductive rights. Investing in women, in equality and in pay equity will always be a priority for us.

The Conservatives are still against abortion, whereas we will always defend women's rights.

[Housing, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we have been investing in housing for three years now, including through our $40-billion national housing strategy.

We are building housing in co-operation with indigenous communities. We are building and renovating housing in urban areas. We are helping people by creating more affordable rental housing.

We know that there is still work to be done. That is why we proposed an innovative measure to help first-time home buyers.

Investing in housing is exactly what we are doing.

[The Budget, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to have an opportunity to talk about our historic investments in housing. We are making major investments to help Canadians find affordable housing.

Our new first-time home buyer incentive will make it more affordable for first-time home buyers to own their own home. It will lower their monthly mortgage payments.

We also increased funding for the rental construction financing initiative, which will help to build thousands of new housing units.

We knew that Canada required federal leadership on housing, and we have been living up to that challenge for the past three years.

[Health, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, that is not at all what we did. We understand that no Canadian should be forced to decide between medicine and food.

With the budget we tabled yesterday, we are laying the foundation for a national pharmacare program. We are creating the Canadian drug agency. With the provinces and territories, the agency will negotiate drug prices for all Canadians, and this will reduce costs by as much as $3 billon a year.

We are also investing $500 million to create a national strategy for high-cost drugs used to treat rare diseases. We are helping Canadians.

[Standing Committee on Access to Inforamtion, Privacy and Ethics, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I want to wish my hon. colleague a happy International Day of La Francophonie. I also want to remind him that the rules of the House allow for committees to set their own agendas and to decide what they will do. It is not up to party leaders to tell committees what to do. On this side of the House, we respect the independence of our committees and we always will.

As for pharmacare, we are very proud of the $500 million we have allocated to help families dealing with rare diseases pay for their medications.

[Standing Committee on Access to Inforamtion, Privacy and Ethics, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we respect the committees. They will make their own decisions about what they want to do, and we will co-operate with them.

The Conservatives clearly do not want to talk about the economy or about the issues that matter to Canadians. Yesterday we presented a budget that shows we listened to Canadians. It shows that we know how to invest in the middle class and in the community. The Conservatives have no plan for the economy, which is why they are trying to distract Canadians and play politics.

We will stay focused on Canadians.

[Standing Committee on Access to Inforamtion, Privacy and Ethics, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is not up to the Leader of the Opposition or the Prime Minister to decide what the committees will do.

Committees are masters of their own agenda and they will make their own decisions. For 10 years, we saw the Conservatives, under Harper, do all they could to control committees. However, on this side of the House we respect the independence of committees. We know that committee members make their own decisions.

That is a principle of our democracy that we respect but that they disregard.

[Standing Committee on Access to Inforamtion, Privacy and Ethics, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, one thing that the Conservatives have not learned, or forgot while in power for 10 years, is that committees and members of parliamentary committees are independent and make their own decisions. Naturally, this government, the Liberal Party, will always respect the independence of committee work, and we will always abide by the decisions of these committees.

[Standing Committee on Access to Inforamtion, Privacy and Ethics, March 20th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by wishing all my colleagues and all Canadians a happy International Day of La Francophonie.

This government understands how important the work done by committees is. We on this side of the House will always respect the committees, always co-operate with them, and always let them do their work independently of the government.