44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 28, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/28/22 2:38:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is because on this side we spoke to Canadians. We spoke to Canadians during the blockades, and their experiences were that their businesses were shut down, workers were—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/28/22 2:38:50 p.m.
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Order. We did make it to question number 14 without too much of an uproar.
The hon. Minister of Public Safety.
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- Apr/28/22 2:39:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying before I was unfortunately interrupted by my colleagues, we spoke with Canadians during the illegal blockades. We spoke with the people who live outside of these chambers who were held hostage, who could not go to work, whose families could not take their children to school and who knew seniors who could not get access to public transportation because of the illegal occupation. It was the police who laid charges independently because of those interruptions, and it was only after we received their advice that we invoked the Emergencies Act. We had to.
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- Apr/28/22 2:39:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to dodge questions about the basic facts of his train wreck of an illegal vacation and the subsequent RCMP investigation that followed. While he attempts to convince Canadians that this issue is solely in the past, it is clear that his skeletons do not remain far from the surface. Although this is not the Prime Minister's first rodeo when it comes to trickery, deception and power-wrangling, time and time again he tells Canadians to look away when he comes under fire.
When will the Prime Minister get off his high horse and admit that he is not above the law?
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- Apr/28/22 2:40:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we are witnessing is, in fact, political theatre. The Conservative Party, virtually since 2015, has been so much focused on character assassination—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/28/22 2:40:40 p.m.
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Order. As soon as we quiet down, I will let the member start over.
The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.
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- Apr/28/22 2:40:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the official opposition makes the point. They are so much focused on character assassination and playing this game, and as much as they want to continue that fixation, I can assure members opposite that we as a government, and in particular the Prime Minister, will continue to focus our attention on what is happening in the real world and what Canadians are facing coast to coast to coast. We will continue to deliver the types of policies, legislation and budgetary measures that are going to make a difference in their lives.
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- Apr/28/22 2:41:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the sanctions against Russia are necessary and valid. Unfortunately, they also penalize our businesses.
Last week, my office arranged a meeting with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and businesses that are suffering collateral damage from these sanctions. We met with companies in sectors ranging from agriculture to aluminum to lumber, all of which are suffering due to tariffs on Russian products or contract terminations.
Will the government announce a strategy to offset the effects that these sanctions are having on our hard-hit businesses?
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- Apr/28/22 2:43:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the Bloc Québécois member and the opportunity to talk to his constituents about the impact of the sanctions we have put in place, which are affecting farmers and other businesses in Quebec.
First, I would like to say that everyone agreed with the idea of imposing tariffs and sanctions on Russia, because we all support Ukraine. Second, I would like to say that we will be looking at the situation with respect to farms and fertilizer.
It has been impacted, and the issue of food security in Canada and global food security is one we are very much concerned with.
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- Apr/28/22 2:43:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member just said, the sector hit hardest by the sanctions is agriculture.
Quebec and eastern Canada use fertilizer imported from Russia, which has been slapped with a 35% surcharge.
Our farmers put their orders in before Russia attacked, so the surcharge is not penalizing Russia, which has already been paid. It is only penalizing our farmers.
A 35% surcharge for imports after the war started is legitimate, but will the government exempt orders placed before the war?
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- Apr/28/22 2:43:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague that we are taking the situation very seriously. We are looking at various options.
We want to make sure our farmers have the inputs they need for a good season so Canada can contribute to food security at home and around the world.
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- Apr/28/22 2:44:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we need to move quickly. This affects everyone.
If fertilizer is already 35% more expensive for farmers, what will happen to food prices? At a time when the cost of groceries is already at a record high, people cannot afford to pay any more.
I would point out that the 35% tariff comes from a well-intentioned sanction against Russia. However, it is ill-conceived, because it has no impact on the Russians, only on our farmers.
Will the government support our farmers before this tariff leads to higher food prices for everyone?
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- Apr/28/22 2:44:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we completely agree that we need to support our farmers and our agricultural producers.
We also completely agree that tariffs and sanctions must be imposed on the Russian government and on Mr. Putin himself in order to support the Ukrainian people in this illegal war.
The last point I will make is that we are preoccupied with this issue. The Minister of Agriculture is working very hard on this issue to work with Canadian farmers to ensure that we are supporting food security in this country and around the world.
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- Apr/28/22 2:45:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government continues to claim that a decrease in international trade necessitated the use of the Emergencies Act. The public safety minister testified that Canada lost $390 million a day in trade and that the government had no choice but to invoke the act because of the damage to the economy. However, new data from Statistics Canada is showing that international trade at both the Ontario and Alberta U.S. borders increased in February compared with the same time last year.
Does the minister not understand basic economics, or is he covering up the truth? Which is it?
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- Apr/28/22 2:46:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important for my colleague to draw a bright distinction between statistics and the real life impacts at the time of the illegal blockades. Those impacts saw the disruption of trade and travel at the Ambassador Bridge, where we do fully one-third of our trade with our most important partner, the United States of America, which, by the way, expressed serious concerns during the blockades. That was one of the other reasons, among many, that we had to invoke the Emergencies Act. It worked. We were able to restore public safety, and thankfully trade and travel are going on again.
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- Apr/28/22 2:46:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, despite the blockades at the Ambassador Bridge and Coutts being cleared before the invocation of the Emergencies Act, cross-border trade was up 16%. These figures raise obvious questions about the government's use of the act, a decision the government justified by threats to economic security. The Liberals did not do anything in 2020 during the rail blockades when economic activities stopped.
Does the government only use the Emergencies Act for groups it deems racist misogynists who oppose its heavy-handed COVID restrictions?
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- Apr/28/22 2:47:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is utterly astonishing to hear the Conservative members continue to bury their heads in the sand over the serious events that occurred during January and February. I would encourage my colleague and all members of the Conservative Party of Canada, who do not want to believe there was any interruption, to speak to the small businesses on Huron Church Road in Windsor, or to talk to the member for Windsor West or the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, who have spoken with those businesses. They were shut down. That was because of the illegal blockades. We are helping them. Trade and travel are going on again, and thankfully it is because we invoked the Emergencies Act.
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- Apr/28/22 2:48:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. Despite the police clearing the blockades without needing the Emergencies Act, yesterday the public safety minister stated the reasons were economic. He said the impacts were devastating. He said the Windsor crossing lost $390 million a day, and Stats Canada says that is not true.
What should Canadians think when the government tells them it cannot explain why it did what it did? With debunked news stories, invented economic data and them clinging to cabinet secrecy, what are the Liberals hiding?
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- Apr/28/22 2:48:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Conservatives are clinging to right now is denial. I have to say that, before coming into this chamber and spouting off statistics in the abstract, I would encourage my colleague to speak with the Canadians outside this chamber, in Ottawa, who could not leave their homes. I would encourage my hon. colleague to speak with the many small businesses not only in Windsor but in Coutts and White Rock that were absolutely devastated by these illegal blockades. It was only after we received advice from police that we invoked the act. It worked, and now we are going to make sure we co-operate with these inquiries so that—
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- Apr/28/22 2:49:29 p.m.
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The hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona.
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