Justin Trudeau

[Intergovernmental Relations, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, there are plenty of places in this country where people file a single tax return, and if Quebec wants to discuss it with us, we are always willing to talk.

The reality is that we intend to continue fighting tax evasion, and it is the federal government that has signed all these international agreements.

We know that there are more than 5,000 people in Quebec processing tax returns from all Canadians, and we know that there are always things that can be done to improve the way Quebeckers and Canadians handle their taxes.

We are always willing to work with Quebeckers and the government—

[Intergovernmental Relations, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, by calling for a single tax return, the Conservatives are putting 5,500 jobs at risk in Shawinigan and Jonquière.

This comes on the heels of a decade of Conservative attacks on the public service. The Conservatives would jeopardize our efforts to fight tax evasion, in which we have invested close to $1 billion.

We will always work with the Government of Quebec to simplify the tax return process, but the Conservatives are playing political games by talking about something in one part of the country and not talking about it in English elsewhere in Canada.

[Intergovernmental Relations, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, how interesting. The Conservatives are saying one thing in French and another in English.

We will continue to work for Quebec and to meet Quebeckers' needs. Quebec has a labour shortage. More than 1,000 positions are vacant according to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

We will continue to work with Quebec on these issues.

However, it would be important to highlight, in both official languages, that the Conservative approach on a single payer for immigration is not something we think is acceptable to the rest of the country, and certainly not to us either.

[Marine Transportation, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that workers at Davie do excellent work. They finished work on the Asterix on time and on budget.

The Conservatives shut Davie out of the national marine strategy, but we have awarded more than $1.5 billion in contracts to Quebec businesses, including $700 million to Davie for three icebreakers. We will continue to support workers across the country.

[Automotive Industry, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, we stand with GM workers and their families in Oshawa. We met with the workers and the union representatives. I even had a frank conversation with the GM CEO, Mary Barra, reminding her of the proud history of GM in Oshawa thanks to those extraordinary workers.

We continue to work with our partners to support those impacted. We will always fight for auto workers and their families. We will continue to do so.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, here is what Canada's Conservatives actually did in 10 years in power. They created a backlog of over 167,000 cases for family sponsorship and an eight-year wait time for families to be reunited.

In the past three years, we have cut wait times to under two years for family reunification; we have cleared the backlog; and, yes, we have quadrupled the number of people who could apply for family sponsorship. That is what we are doing to bring families together.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, once again the Conservatives are playing politics with people's lives. When the Conservatives were in power, there was a backlog of 160,000 cases and an eight-year waiting period for family reunification.

We have cut that waiting period down to under two years. We cleared the backlog and quadrupled the number of people who can apply for family reunification. That is our track record.

[Ethics, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, politicians have no involvement in decisions on this matter. I, of course, have regular interactions with the Chief of the Defence Staff. In this instance, the chief notified me of steps being taken regarding this individual. The notion that any politician was involved in those decisions is completely false.

I will not comment further as the matter is before the courts.

[Ethics, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, politicians have no involvement in decisions on this matter. The notion that any politician was involved in those decisions is completely false.

Of course, I will not comment any further as the matter is before the courts.

[The Environment, January 30th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the IPCC report is a sobering reminder that we need to tackle climate change and our government is taking action. We have a practical, affordable plan to cut pollution and create good middle-class jobs. It includes phasing out coal, supporting more than 1,000 public transit projects across the country and putting a price on pollution.

While the Conservatives want to make it free to pollute, we will continue to move forward for Canadians.