44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 8, 2021 02:00PM
- Dec/8/21 2:36:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, runaway inflation is driving up prices. Canadians are feeling the pinch. Many are struggling to pay for groceries, while others are giving up on their dream of buying a home because prices have gone up 33%. The Liberal government's attitude feels like a frontal assault.
Can the Liberal government have a heart and see how fed up Canadian consumers are? It is a simple question.
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- Dec/8/21 2:37:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find that a little surprising coming from a member whose election campaign was founded on a Conservative Party housing promise to give massive tax credits to landlords.
That was not going to help families become homeowners. In contrast, the Liberal Party had and still has a concrete plan to invest with municipalities in order to build housing, ensure affordable access to home ownership and assist first-time buyers.
We are here to help Canadians every step of the way. The Conservatives want us to do less. We will not do less, we will do more.
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- Dec/8/21 2:37:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what did the Prime Minister's Office say when Bud the Spud from the bright red mud rolled into Ottawa looking for help? They sent him to city hall. It was the Conservatives who brought the spuds back to Parliament Hill so they could not be ignored. However, potato growers in Prince Edward Island are frustrated that they are hearing nothing from their Liberal MPs. Three hundred million pounds of potatoes sit idle, hundreds of jobs have been lost and dozens of family farms are at risk.
Will the Prime Minister do the right thing? Will he end his self-imposed export ban on P.E.I. potatoes before Christmas, yes or no?
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- Dec/8/21 2:38:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am certain that I am not hearing right. I do not think I am hearing the Conservatives propose that we allow the Americans to impose a ban on P.E.I. potatoes, because that is what they are proposing right now.
We moved forward to make sure that we kept control over the situation. I had a meeting with Premier King the same week that I had a meeting with President Biden to highlight the issues we have right now. We will continue to be there to support P.E.I. and indeed the potato industry across this country. We will continue to be there to support Prince Edward Island potatoes in every way we can, as we have continued to support Canadians throughout these difficult years.
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- Dec/8/21 2:39:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has just admitted that the government self-inflicted a wound before the United States did anything. He has admitted that this decision was based on politics, not science. In fact, the agriculture minister has said the same thing. The Liberal member for Cardigan said that absolutely there is no doubt politics is involved in this dispute with the United States.
Will the Prime Minister end his half-baked ban? Will he expend some political capital and political will and end this dispute before Christmas?
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- Dec/8/21 2:39:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I highly recommend that the Conservatives actually engage substantively on this issue, because we should all be using a team Canada approach and should recognize that with the U.S. threatening to impose a ban on table potatoes from Prince Edward Island, we needed to act.
We are continuing to work with the United States and to put pressure on the United States so that we can move forward in a way that is safe for everyone and supports Islanders. The Conservatives are busy throwing mud and do not actually understand the issue. The member talks about rich red mud. He should respect that rich red mud and get the facts straight.
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- Dec/8/21 2:40:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wish the Prime Minister would show that kind of fight with the United States when some of our commodities are at risk. He has failed when it comes to our trade relationship with the United States. He has failed on energy. He has failed on softwood lumber. He has failed on dairy and potatoes. Now the United States is threatening to instigate mandatory country-of-origin labelling, which will devastate our livestock industry. The WTO has already said that COOL violates international law.
Will Canada’s beef and pork industry be protected, or will the Prime Minister continue to outsource our trade agenda to the United States?
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- Dec/8/21 2:41:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we saw over the past number of years was the Conservatives recommending that we cave on standing up to the United States. We did exactly the opposite. We stood up for steel. We stood up for aluminum workers. We stood up for people across the country—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Dec/8/21 2:41:17 p.m.
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I will have to stop the Prime Minister. I am having a hard time hearing his answer and I am sure everybody wants to hear what he has to say. I want to ask everyone to just calm down.
The Prime Minister can start from the beginning and answer the whole thing.
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- Dec/8/21 2:41:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, time and time again, we have heard the Conservatives recommend that we cave on standing up to the Americans. That was their approach. When we brought in retaliatory tariffs to stand up for our steelworkers and our aluminum workers, the Conservative leader called that “dumb”.
Every step of the way, whether it was in renegotiating NAFTA, standing up for steel and aluminum workers, standing up for our auto workers or standing up for agricultural workers, this government has been there. The Conservatives have been playing politics and losing the plot.
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- Dec/8/21 2:42:14 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, with greater Montreal reeling from a wave of shootings and tragedies, the Prime Minister should be doing everything he can to fight illegal guns.
However, that is not what he is doing with Bill C‑5. His bill eliminates minimum penalties for importing firearms and for using them to commit crimes. The Prime Minister is even eliminating these penalties for repeat offenders convicted of illegal firearms possession.
The Prime Minister will have to explain how Bill C‑5 will help curb gun violence in Montreal.
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- Dec/8/21 2:42:49 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, we recognize that firearms pose a huge challenge in Montreal and across the country.
That is why we are taking this issue seriously by investing $125 million to create a cross‑border task force to stop gun smuggling, $250 million to support community‑based anti-gang programs, $327 million to give police the resources they need to detect and prevent crime more effectively, and at least $1 billion to help the provinces and territories, like Quebec, ban handguns.
We will be there and will continue to be there to fight gun violence.
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- Dec/8/21 2:43:32 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, to counter the violence in the greater Montreal area, the mayor of Montreal and the Government of Quebec are calling on the federal government to take action against illegal guns.
The first tangible action this government has taken on illegal guns since Parliament resumed has been the introduction of Bill C‑5, which would repeal certain related minimum penalties.
Quebec's public safety minister said the federal government needs to send the message that it is taking this seriously. Does the Prime Minister think that introducing Bill C‑5 in the middle of a wave of shootings sends the message that he is taking this seriously?
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- Dec/8/21 2:44:10 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, we are taking meaningful action to help stem gun-related violence. Many measures need to be taken, and Bill C‑5 is one of them.
We have also invested $125 million to create a cross-border task force to stop smuggling, $250 million to support community-based anti-gang programs, and $327 million to give police the resources they need to detect and prevent crime more effectively. We are also investing $1 billion to help Quebec and other provinces ban handguns.
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- Dec/8/21 2:44:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada is supposed to be focused solely on reducing the rising cost of living, but some people are saying that it should be focusing on all sorts of other things outside of that, particularly policy, which is the sole responsibility of elected representatives.
Right now, people are struggling with maxed-out credit cards, and they are trying to figure out how to buy Christmas presents. The Prime Minister has not answered the basic question, and so I will ask him something very simple. Does he agree that the Bank of Canada should only be focused on reducing inflation and keeping it at 2%?
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- Dec/8/21 2:45:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite well knows that the current mandate for the Bank of Canada is to keep the 2% target for inflation. We will be renewing the mandate in the coming days or weeks, and we will demonstrate that we are squarely focused on the preoccupations that Canadians have once we make that announcement.
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- Dec/8/21 2:45:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, why can he not just make that announcement right now? His lack of policy on this has created a lot of instability, and what that translates to the average Canadian is that they cannot buy Christmas presents. They are struggling with maxed-out credit cards.
What we have here is a Prime Minister who does not understand that it is his responsibility to set this policy. The Bank of Canada should be solely focused on keeping life affordable for Canadians. Will the Prime Minister announce today that he intends to renew this exact mandate?
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- Dec/8/21 2:46:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as members of this House well know, monetary policy and the work of the bank is independent of the work that politicians do. There are very clear rules around how we create those mandates, how we renew those mandates. Those rules on this side of the House will be followed. I can reassure Canadians that the current mandate does have the target of 2%, and we will be renewing the mandate in the coming days.
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- Dec/8/21 2:46:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, except the Canadian economy has seen inflation blow way past that target, and the average Canadian knows that.
The average Canadian right now cannot buy Christmas presents. I know that the Prime Minister might not understand what it is like to be struggling with a maxed-out credit card, but most Canadians do. That means understanding that he should be telling the Bank of Canada to focus on keeping life affordable, not making economic or fiscal policy. That is his job and the job of this place. So, will he today, very basic and very simple, say that he will keep that target at 2% through the mandate?
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- Dec/8/21 2:47:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will be making an announcement in the coming days and weeks.
The reality is that Conservatives have been misrepresenting this inflation crisis for the past many weeks. It is a result of the disruption around COVID-19. It is a result of disrupted supply chains.
We are continuing to be there to support Canadians, whether it is with $10-a-day child care, whether it is historic investments in countering the housing crisis, whether it is supports for seniors and supports for young Canadians. We have made a promise that we would have Canadians' backs. Despite some Conservatives complaining that we have done that too much, we will continue to have people's backs.
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