Justin Trudeau

[Incident at U.K. Parliament, March 22nd, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her statement and support. We were all saddened to learn about today's incident near the British Parliament in London. I express my deepest condolences to the victims of this cowardly attack. The scene unfolding in London is one that is all too familiar to members of this House who were here two and a half years ago.

Today's attack on the United Kingdom Parliament is an attack on the world's democracies.

An attack on the symbol and the seat of democracy is a cowardly and reprehensible act that we condemn in the strongest terms. Canada and the U.K. are close friends and allies and our message to the citizens of the United Kingdom and our colleagues in the British Parliament is simple: we stand with you.

[Justice, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it is important that we ensure that our justice system works to keep Canadians and their communities safe. We are always working to improve our justice system so that criminals are prosecuted and face the consequences of their actions. There is still work to do to improve the system.

[Taxation, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting how the member opposite talks about doing more for the middle class and less for the wealthiest, because he voted against lowering taxes on the middle class and raising them on the wealthiest 1%. If he were serious about helping the middle class, he would make sure that his party stood with us as we lower taxes on the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%.

[Infrastructure, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite remembers well the campaign, because we committed to invest in infrastructure, while he committed to balancing the books, at all costs, on the backs of Canadians. Canadians made a different choice. Canadians knew that investing in our communities, investing in infrastructure, whether it is social housing, whether it is child care spaces, whether it is public transit, is necessary for the future of our economy, for the future of Canadians. That is what we are doing. We are looking to leverage as much public infrastructure as we possibly can for the benefit of Canadians, and that is what the infrastructure bank is going to help do.

[Small Business, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we know what our small businesses need: economic growth.

Following 10 years of a government that failed in this area, we are working to put more money in the pockets of the middle class and create opportunities for our small businesses.

By connecting our small businesses to global markets, especially through the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, which the previous government was unable to conclude but we managed to do so, we know that we are creating opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses every day. That is our government’s focus.

[Taxation, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, over the past year and a half, we raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% so we could lower them on the middle class. We delivered a Canada child benefit that gives more money to nine out of 10 Canadians by stopping the sending of child benefit cheques to millionaire families, which the previous government did.

The fact is, on the tax cut for the middle class and more money through the CCB, that party voted against both initiatives. Shame on them.

[Finance, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite wants to talk about facts. The fact is, the very first thing we did in government was lower taxes on the middle class and raise them on the wealthiest 1%. Unfortunately, the fact also is that that party voted against raising taxes on the wealthiest and lowering them on the middle class. That, unfortunately, demonstrates that they still do not understand that Canadians need investments in the middle class and support for the middle class, not for the wealthiest, like they did for 10 years.

[Government Accountability, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to every opportunity to stand up and talk about the great things this government is doing.

Tomorrow we will be presenting a budget that will create growth for the middle class, opportunities for Canadians, investments in the future of this country that we know, after 10 years of slow growth under the Conservative government, will turn our growth path around. This is about giving opportunities to Canadians.

I am always happy to talk about the important things the Canadian government is doing for the middle class.

[Government Accountability, March 21st, 2017]

Mr. Speaker, we have put forward a discussion paper, that we have published and shared with all Canadians, to talk about how we can improve the functioning of this house of democracy, how we can make sure that Canadians are better heard, that the opposition has the opportunity to ask tough questions to hold the Prime Minister to account and to hold this government to account.

That is why, among the many proposals we have made, we have talked about the model of the British prime minister's questions that devotes an entire question period to the prime minister answering questions.

We are open to all sorts of discussions about how to improve the functioning of this Parliament, because we know Canadians expect a modern workplace out of this place so we can better serve them.

[Government Accountability, March 21st, 2017]

On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to be here today and as often as necessary to answer questions from members of the opposition.

That said, I would like to point out that our government is different from the previous government. We have an amazing cabinet. Our ministers are very capable of directly answering questions regarding their own actions in their own portfolios. That is how a government by cabinet operates. That is how a government operates when it is accountable to its citizens.