44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 4, 2022 02:00PM
- May/4/22 2:42:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if we are going to talk about our approaches at the beginning of the pandemic, I will point out that it was the Conservative Party that was the most vocal about demanding more vaccines in this country so Canadians could be vaccinated. I am willing to give them credit for that, but once we delivered those vaccines, it was unfortunately the Conservatives who fought to prevent people from being persuaded that vaccines were a good idea.
Unfortunately, they did not follow the science. We will continue to follow the science, we have delivered these vaccines, and we will implement measures that will keep Canadians safe.
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- May/4/22 2:43:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at the federal level, there is a backlog of 29,000 permanent residence applications from Quebec immigrants. Some people have been waiting since 2009.
Yesterday, the Liberals blamed Quebec, saying that if Quebec really wants to improve wait times, it only has to increase its immigration cap. Those 29,000 applications came from immigrants who have already been selected by Quebec, who are already living in Quebec. Their files are being held up in Ottawa.
Is that Quebec's fault? Is Quebec now in charge of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada?
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- May/4/22 2:44:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have always worked hand in hand with the Government of Quebec on immigration. We are processing files as quickly as possible. Yes, it would be better if Quebec sent us more files, because then we could ensure higher immigration levels. However, this kind of work is ongoing.
Last year, we welcomed more than 50,000 new permanent residents to the province, and this year, Quebec has significantly increased its immigration targets, which is a good thing. We will continue to work so we can meet expectations in this area. The federal government is always ready to do more when it comes to immigration.
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- May/4/22 2:44:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec does not run Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, but maybe it should.
If Quebec had full control over immigration, immigrants chosen by Quebec itself would have their permanent residence served up on a silver platter. Right now, it takes an average of two and a half years for the federal government to process applications; some have been waiting for 13 years. The federal government's system is broken.
Is the Prime Minister okay with the fact that his government is abandoning immigrants selected by Quebec who live in Quebec, work in Quebec and study in Quebec?
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- May/4/22 2:45:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, immigration will, by and large, always be under federal control, but we do have an agreement with Quebec that recognizes Quebec's distinct needs. I realize our Bloc friend is not happy about this, but Quebec is not yet its own country, nor will it ever be if Canadians continue to do their job. Until then, we will have this partnership between the federal government, which is here for all Canadians, and the provincial government of Quebec.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/4/22 2:45:59 p.m.
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Everyone is getting in on the act.
The hon. member for Sturgeon River—Parkland.
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- May/4/22 2:46:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are rightly concerned about the Liberal government's political interference with the inquiry into the Emergencies Act. The Prime Minister has refused to turn over key evidence that cabinet used to justify invoking extraordinary powers, and questions remain on how and why it selected Justice Rouleau to head the inquiry.
Could the Prime Minister clear the air and confirm to the House if any minister or member of their political staff spoke with Justice Rouleau about the inquiry before his appointment, yes or no?
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- May/4/22 2:46:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we invoked the Emergencies Act, we ensured that it was done in a proportional and time-limited way to enable the kind of restoration of order that we needed in Canada while maintaining people's confidence in the transparency and the accountability of democracy. That is why we moved forward with the parliamentary committee. That is why we have moved forward with a national public inquiry as required, to be able to give that full transparency.
I can understand the Conservatives are concerned about this. They are worried that it is going to show the level to which their support for these blockaders contributed to the difficulties of so many Canadians.
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- May/4/22 2:47:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government must invoke the National Defence Act to use the military for civilian law enforcement. The government insists it did not deploy the military during the February demonstrations in Ottawa. Now we know surveillance flights were conducted over Ottawa at that time.
Did the government invoke any statute to deploy the Canadian Armed Forces in this manner, or was the surveillance conducted without lawful authority?
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- May/4/22 2:48:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. The flight in question was part of a Canadian Armed Forces training exercise that was planned prior to and was unrelated to the convoy protest. That is the fact.
What the official opposition is playing with here is dangerously close to misinformation and disinformation when it chooses to make political hay out of something that could be concerning to many people if it were true, but it is simply not true. I think it is important and behooves all of us in the House to demonstrate responsible leadership in how we move forward.
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- May/4/22 2:49:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said, “One has to be very, very cautious before deploying the military in situations engaging Canadians. It is not something that anyone should enter into lightly”, yet we have now learned that Canada's special forces were operating surveillance aircraft, though I am sure they were just in training, over Ottawa during the February trucker protest. This contradicts everything the government has said to date. Liberals did not put soldiers on our streets, but they did put them in the air.
How can the Prime Minister justify using military assets to surveil—
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- May/4/22 2:50:01 p.m.
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The right hon. Prime Minister.
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- May/4/22 2:50:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want Canadians to pay very careful attention to this exchange. What the member opposite just engaged in is dangerously close to misinformation and disinformation designed to gin up fears and conspiracy theories around what happened a number of months ago. It is entirely irresponsible for members of Her Majesty's loyal opposition to stray so close to misinformation and disinformation. I would ask them to be more responsible.
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- May/4/22 2:50:59 p.m.
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We crossed a couple of lines there, and I want us to be careful when we talk about misinformation and when we impugn other members and what they are doing. I want us to be careful. I heard it from all sides.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
The Deputy Speaker: Order, order. I can stand here for the rest of question period and then that would be that. Do we want to continue with question period? That is my question.
An hon. member: Yes, please.
The Deputy Speaker: That is very good. However, we are out of control. We need to bring it down a bit so the people watching from above and the people watching at home can understand that we are having a debate that is important to Canadians. Let us bring it down.
Some hon. members: Hear, hear!
The Deputy Speaker: The hon. member for Lethbridge.
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- May/4/22 2:52:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Emergencies Act can be invoked only if there is no other law in Canada that can deal with the situation at hand. It appears that there was military surveillance that was conducted during the Ottawa protest. I find that very interesting, as do many Canadians, because either the government authorized this flyover, this military surveillance, without lawful authority, or it utilized another law in Canada, namely the National Defence Act, and, therefore, the Emergencies Act was not required.
Which is it? Did the government conduct military surveillance illegally, or did it invoke the Emergencies Act illegitimately?
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- May/4/22 2:53:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the flight in question was part of a Canadian Armed Forces training exercise that was planned prior to and unrelated to the convoy protest. Those are the facts as put forward.
The choice of the Conservative Party of Canada to drum up and allude to conspiracy theories and come dangerously close to spreading misinformation and disinformation is something we need to be very careful about.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/4/22 2:53:45 p.m.
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Order. The previous comment still applies.
The hon. member for Burnaby South.
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- May/4/22 2:53:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have come to learn what we have long believed, which is that the Canada Infrastructure Bank does not actually deliver infrastructure. It just enriches those at the very top. We have long known that public-private partnerships do not actually benefit communities. In fact, the transport committee has made a recommendation that the Infrastructure Bank be scrapped.
We have been calling for and we continue to call for the Infrastructure Bank to be turned into a climate bank that creates jobs for workers and builds infrastructure publicly to help us tackle the climate crisis. Will the Prime Minister do that? Will he turn the Infrastructure Bank into a climate bank that favours people and public investment?
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- May/4/22 2:54:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner's findings are proof that taking action to protect our environment works and that this is the time to be even more ambitious. Infrastructure Canada is strengthening the climate lens it uses to assess the environmental impacts of projects as we continue to build a clean, competitive economy. We will use these reports to keep delivering what Canadians expect, which is a healthy environment and a healthy economy.
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Mr. Speaker, reports out of New Brunswick indicate there has been a 30% increase in overdose deaths in one year alone. We know this is a crisis gripping the entire country. Experts have called for decriminalization as one tool to tackle this serious crisis and to save lives. We agree.
In fact, we have a private member's bill that calls for a health care approach instead of a criminal law approach to dealing with this crisis. Will the Prime Minister support our bill and save lives?
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