44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 25, 2022 11:00AM
- Apr/25/22 2:31:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know just how challenging this pandemic has been for seniors. That is why, from the very beginning, we have been there to support them. On April 19, we delivered a one-time payment for those affected seniors.
We also passed Bill C-12, which ensures that seniors, particularly working and low-income seniors, are never again impacted by any pandemic benefits they take.
We will continue to ensure that we support and deliver for seniors every step of the way.
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- Apr/25/22 2:31:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we just learned the Liberals are backing down on drug price reforms that would make life-saving medications more affordable and save us billions. This means Canadians will keep paying excessive costs for prescription drugs, which are among the highest in the world. Meanwhile, the Liberals choose to protect the profits of large pharmaceutical companies.
The Liberals say no one should go without the medicine they need, but this policy choice makes that happen. Will the government get moving on public universal pharmacare so every Canadian can get the medicine they need and deserve?
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- Apr/25/22 2:32:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to improving access to quality medicines for all Canadians. Canada has among some of the highest patent medicine prices in the world, and these prices have negatively affected the ability of patients to access new medicines.
On April 14, we announced new amendments to the patented medicines regulations that will give the PMPRB new tools to improve access to quality medicines while generating significant savings over the coming years for Canadians. These changes will also ensure the sustainability of our health care while supporting innovation and investment in the pharmaceutical sector.
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- Apr/25/22 2:32:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act is one of the most powerful laws in the land, with an extremely high threshold needed to invoke it. That is a good thing, otherwise charter rights could be easily abused by governments.
That threshold is whether there is a national threat to public safety so serious that it cannot be addressed by any other law, yet we well know that there are many existing laws that can address illegal blockades of critical infrastructure, obviously. Maybe that is why the Liberals are hiding behind cabinet confidence and refusing to release documents justifying their decision to use these powers. It is because they know the threshold has not been met.
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- Apr/25/22 2:33:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when this country was faced with very real threats to critical infrastructure, our vital supply lines and the incredible disruption that was taking place right out here in the streets of Ottawa, our government did what was necessary and required to deal with that situation through the invocation of the act.
I want to advise this House that today the government is fulfilling its statutory requirements in appointing Justice Paul Rouleau as the commissioner of the public inquiry into the circumstances of using this act. We will do what is required, and we will do it in the right way.
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- Apr/25/22 2:34:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that inquiry will be useless unless the Liberals waive cabinet confidence and allow Canadians to know the whole story. Really, the stakes could not be higher for Canadians, given that their charter rights are at risk with this unprecedented invocation of the Emergencies Act.
To be clear for Canadians at home, the emergency powers allow the government to freeze their bank accounts, seize their assets and suspend their charter rights, all without due process. That is why there is an extraordinarily high threshold needed to invoke it.
The Minister of Public Safety said today that he will be up front and transparent with Canadians. If that is the case, why would the Liberals not waive cabinet confidence? Are they hiding something?
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- Apr/25/22 2:34:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to respond to the member's question because I can assure her that, under the Public Inquiries Act, the commissioner of this inquiry will have very broad authorities, like the ability to compel witnesses and the production of documents, subject, as always, to the lawful privileges of evidence that may exist. He will have the ability to call the evidence required, and we have great confidence in Justice Rouleau and this inquiry to get the information and the facts that this House and Canadians require.
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- Apr/25/22 2:35:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the Emergencies Act, the government is still falling short on its duty to be transparent. Let us not forget that, in 2015, the government campaigned on being a global example of transparency. It is quite the opposite.
As required by the legislation, the government called an inquiry today, but it waited until the last minute to do so. What Canadians and especially we as parliamentarians want is to have access to the documents containing objective and factual information.
What is the government trying to hide by not presenting the inquiry documents to the House?
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- Apr/25/22 2:36:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member would probably be aware, section 63 of the Emergencies Act actually requires the government to call a public inquiry within 60 days. We have fulfilled that requirement of the act. We have also moved to fulfill the requirement by directing the public inquiry to conclude with a report back to the House by February 20, 2023.
Under the Inquiries Act, we have provided the commissioner with all the authorities he requires to compel witnesses and compel the delivery of documents to enable him to do his work. He will have access to the documents he requires, even classified documents, subject to appropriate limits on privilege that may exist.
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- Apr/25/22 2:36:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see that, at the very least, the minister has read the act and is enforcing it.
The problem with this affair is that it reminds us of the unfortunate events at Winnipeg's National Microbiology Laboratory. Members will recall that this government did everything it could to prevent parliamentarians and the House of Commons from having access to the documents. Members will also recall that this government dragged the Speaker himself to court when he defended parliamentarians' rights.
The question is very simple: Why is the government refusing to release certain documents that state the facts and are not political or partisan?
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- Apr/25/22 2:37:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am afraid that my friend opposite just presumes what Justice Rouleau will determine he requires in order to fulfill his requirements under the commission he now holds to conduct a public inquiry. I can assure the House we will provide all the support necessary to Justice Rouleau in the contents of his inquiry and provide him with the resources and tools he requires in order to fulfill his mandate.
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- Apr/25/22 2:37:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Prime Minister promised to run the most open and accountable government ever. We all remember his sunny ways. With scandal after scandal, and crisis after crisis, he has proven it is just a broken promise.
In the latest saga of the Prime Minister's dizzying mismanagement and misuse of the act, the government is now refusing to hand over to the Federal Court, under the guise of cabinet confidentiality, basic information about what information led to the use of the act. This is not how a real democracy works. What is the Prime Minister hiding this time from Canadians?
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- Apr/25/22 2:38:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me assure the member opposite that we are complying with all of the court's direction with respect to the provision of evidence. However, the member is also probably aware that there is certain information, such as lawyer-client privilege, which is respected and well established in the law in this country. We will follow the law as it pertains to the conduct of that case and the public inquiry.
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- Apr/25/22 2:39:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, recent court filings indicate the Liberals are refusing to reveal what information led the government to invoke the Emergencies Act in response to the “freedom convoy”. The government has yet to make a compelling argument that the invocation of the act actually met the incredibly high national security threshold. With this unprecedented use of the act, will the government finally be transparent and accountable to Canadians by sharing the information and documents it relied upon for invoking the Emergencies Act?
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- Apr/25/22 2:39:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would simply remind the member opposite that we complied very precisely with the requirements of the Emergencies Act. We stood up, at the first opportunity, a committee of parliamentarians to examine, as is required by the act, the circumstances giving rise to the invocation of the act, the measures that were invoked and the steps that were taken as a result.
We have also now complied with the act and established a commission of inquiry under the public Inquiries Act. We made the decision to establish that under the public Inquiries Act to ensure that the commissioner would have all the authorities he required to compel witnesses and to compel documents to do his job. That is the essence of being open and transparent.
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- Apr/25/22 2:40:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, CN appointed a unilingual English-speaking board of directors. This reminds us of Air Canada, whose CEO boasted that he was a unilingual anglophone and had managed to live in Quebec his whole life without speaking French. It also reminds us that CN and Air Canada have something else in common besides having garnered the contempt of francophones: Both of these companies are federally regulated.
Has the minister noticed that there is a climate of hostility towards French at these federally regulated businesses?
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- Apr/25/22 2:41:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
Both official languages are central to our identity and our culture. All Canadians deserve to be served in the official language of their choice by federally regulated businesses.
The lack of a francophone director at CN is completely unacceptable. We expect that this company will rectify the situation as soon as possible.
That is why we are moving forward with Bill C-13, a bill that has more teeth and that will give the Commissioner of Official Languages more tools to do his job.
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- Apr/25/22 2:41:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 1962, CN claimed that there were no francophones qualified to serve as vice-president. Sixty years later, CN still cannot find francophones qualified to sit on its board of directors.
That is how federally regulated companies operate, which is why Quebec wants to make these companies subject to the Charter of the French Language. The Liberal government's bill prevents Quebec from doing so, however. Instead, it would expand the bilingualism rules at Air Canada and CN to all federally regulated companies. Why not just let Quebec defend French?
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- Apr/25/22 2:42:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleague for his question.
The protection and promotion of French are top priorities for this government and for me, as Minister of Official Languages. That is why we are moving forward with an ambitious bill that has more teeth to ensure that all Canadians get the services they need.
I hope that my colleague will support our modernization by passing Bill C‑13 as soon as possible, because this bill will make a real difference in the lives of all Canadians.
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- Apr/25/22 2:42:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us recap.
CN appoints a unilingual anglophone board of directors. The CEO of Air Canada is a unilingual anglophone. The Prime Minister appoints a unilingual anglophone lieutenant governor in New Brunswick. The Prime Minister appoints a governor general who does not speak French. The Prime Minister even considered taking British Colombian francophones to court last month for demanding services in French.
It is clear that the federal government is incapable of protecting the French language. Why will it not let Quebec take action with its Charter of the French Language?
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