44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 14, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/14/22 2:17:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the word “dignity” is central to René Lévesque's legacy.
It is a dignity that is not always clear, but it takes on its full significance, even 35 years after his death and 100 years after his birth, when we take an inspiring look back at a time when Quebec values were solidified.
Yesterday, in Montreal, the Fondation René-Lévesque launched its commemoration of the centenary of his birth. The honorary president of the festivities is a prominent former leader from this Parliament, Lucien Bouchard, whom I salute.
At this event, we saw glimpses of what we each believe René Lévesque was like, based on the broad strokes of our shared understanding of his life. It is a life that looms large for my generation, but it is unknown to those for whom René Lévesque is merely a black-and-white photo in a book about a history that is no longer taught.
What a wonderful opportunity to teach young people about this giant, a man like no other, whose love for Quebeckers was so profound that he sacrificed everything to try to give them a country of their own.
“The future lasts a long time”, he would say. It is just beginning for Quebec, thanks to René Lévesque.
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- Jun/14/22 2:18:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, airports are in chaos. The passport office is snowed under. Inflation is out of control. Ministers are misleading Parliament. The government's current priorities are an incoherent mess.
Bill C-5 would drop sentencing requirements on violent offenders and drug traffickers and open the door for sex offenders to serve community sentences near their victims. Bill C-21 pretends to address gun violence, but literally only affects people who obey Canada's existing strict firearms laws. Bill C-19 would remove any pretense of fiscal control from the undisciplined and unserious government. Bill C-11 is a bill that would give the CRTC the power to control what Canadians find and post on the Internet. None of these bills would do anything to fix any of Canada's serious problems.
If these are the government's priorities for the next two weeks, I suggest it quit now and spend the summer coming up with a real agenda to help Canadians.
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- Jun/14/22 2:20:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to recognize my constituent and a long-time dedicated employee of the House of Commons.
Mr. Claude St-Germain, assistant sergeant-at-arms and risk management and investigations officer, is retiring after 35 years of outstanding service. Mr. St-Germain joined the House of Commons security services on September 21, 1987, moving to Ottawa from his hometown of Sudbury.
Over the years, Claude rose through the ranks of the House of Commons Security Services, where he served as sergeant of the civilian unit before joining the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms.
His professionalism, dedication, commitment, kindness and vast knowledge of this place is deeply appreciated and will be greatly missed.
I ask all hon. members to join me in thanking Claude for 35 years of unfailing and dedicated service.
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- Jun/14/22 2:21:04 p.m.
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Before going to Oral Questions, I want to remind all hon. members that we cannot do indirectly what we cannot do directly. If there is anything in their questions or answers, I would ask them to scratch it out now before I have to act. It will make my life a lot easier.
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- Jun/14/22 2:21:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians should be able to trust that what their government tells them is the truth. Telling the truth is especially important when setting the serious precedent of invoking the Emergencies Act. We now know the Minister of Public Safety has been misleading Canadians. No police force asked for the act. He knows it. We all know it. There was no misunderstanding. The minister has lost credibility and trust.
Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and ask the Minister of Public Safety to step away from his duties?
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- Jun/14/22 2:22:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when illegal blockades paralyzed our economy and hurt workers and communities, police, municipal and provincial leadership told us more tools were needed to bring them to an end. The former Ottawa police chief said at the time, “We cannot do it alone” and “We are grateful for what they provided, but we need more.” Even Alberta's Minister of Municipal Affairs wrote that the local RCMP “have exhausted all local and regional options.” We listened. We determined that the Emergencies Act had the tools necessary to end this and it worked.
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- Jun/14/22 2:23:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is no misunderstanding, and this is too important to try to skew the words. This is vitally important.
No police officers or agencies asked for the act to be invoked. The Minister of Public Safety said that they did. He was not telling the truth. He misled Canadians. He cannot be trusted. He has lost the confidence of this House to do his job.
Has he lost the confidence of the Prime Minister? Will the Prime Minister ask him to resign?
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- Jun/14/22 2:23:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. Law enforcement should never be able to grant itself extraordinary powers. That is up to government to choose to do, as we did with the Emergencies Act.
Once in place, the Emergencies Act allowed police to, according to the commissioner of the RCMP, refuse entry of individuals travelling to the illegal protest with the intent of participating. It gave police “the power to arrest individuals who continue to supply fuel, food and other materials and to compel individuals to provide essential towing services”. Canadians remember how—
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- Jun/14/22 2:24:17 p.m.
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The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
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- Jun/14/22 2:24:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister has abdicated and failed in his responsibility to be truthful with Canadians. He is a lawyer and a former federal prosecutor. He knows full well how to choose his words carefully. He knows full well how to be precise in his language, yet he said over and over again that law enforcement requested the Emergencies Act. Those were his words. We now know his words were not true.
How can the Prime Minister have any faith in the minister? Will he ask the minister to resign?
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- Jun/14/22 2:24:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is crystal clear is how much the Conservative Party is hoping Canadians forget that the Conservatives stood with the illegal blockaders and that they stood with the people disrupting the daily lives, the economy and the communities of Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Police services needed more tools to deal with these blockades, and that is why we stepped up to protect Canadians. We invoked the Emergencies Act, and it worked to end the illegal blockades and keep Canadians safe.
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- Jun/14/22 2:25:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our responsibility is to stand up for Canadians who have been misled by the minister.
Canadians were shocked and disgusted to learn that last weekend, the Minister of Foreign Affairs sent one of her delegates to share champagne and caviar with Russian diplomats. While Putin and his thugs continue an unjustified and violent war on innocent civilians in Ukraine, can the Prime Minister tell us how, in the name of everything that is good, did he allow this to happen? We are supposed to be friends of Ukraine. Why did his minister send one of her delegates to party with Russian diplomats, who are still being allowed to stay in Canada?
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- Jun/14/22 2:26:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, not a half an hour ago, I got off a 45-minute phone call with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to talk about everything Canada has been doing and will continue to do, including leading conversations at the Summit of the Americas last week, and continuing to deliver on toughened sanctions and on more equipment and ammunition. We will continue to step up to support Ukraine.
Obviously, it was absolutely unacceptable for any Canadian representative to be at this event. It never should have happened, and we denounce it thoroughly.
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- Jun/14/22 2:26:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, his minister is either incompetent or complicit in what happened, maybe both. Either way, it is a complete failure on behalf of the Liberals. Canadians expect that their Minister of Foreign Affairs will lead by example, by condemning and isolating Putin's regime, not sending senior officials to party at the Russian embassy.
The Prime Minister and his foreign affairs minister claim to be great friends of Ukraine. I hope he apologized to President Zelenskyy, because what kind of friend sends a delegate to their enemy's house to enjoy champagne and caviar?
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- Jun/14/22 2:27:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure the Leader of the Opposition, and indeed all Canadians, that President Zelenskyy and I had an extremely positive conversation where this issue did not come up because, obviously, there are much more important issues, like how we continue to deliver munitions that are desperately needed by Ukrainians, how we continue to mobilize international support for Ukraine in condemning Russia, how we continue to engage every single day to stand up for Ukraine, and, indeed, how Canada is so completely and totally unequivocal in its support for Ukraine and its condemnation of Russia.
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- Jun/14/22 2:28:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I read The Globe and Mail every day, and I learned from this morning's edition that the government's own experts told it that its 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets were not feasible before they were unveiled.
That means that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Prime Minister knowingly made bogus announcements. Can the Prime Minister at least do what he often does and apologize for misleading Quebeckers and Canadians?
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- Jun/14/22 2:28:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we have one of the most comprehensive emissions reduction plans in the world. It will deliver clean air and a strong economy for all Canadians.
Experts agree that our plan credibly outlines the contributions that every sector must make to achieve our climate targets. The Canadian Climate Institute, Équiterre, Clean Prosperity and other leading scientists have all approved our final plan.
We promised an ambitious and achievable plan and that is exactly what we delivered.
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- Jun/14/22 2:29:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is some climate humour right there.
His very own experts, the ones he quotes when it suits him, say that the only way we just might be able to meet the targets is, one, forget about this sequestration nonsense and, two, cut production.
Will the Prime Minister at the very least cut all oil industry subsidies?
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- Jun/14/22 2:30:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the analysis my dear colleague is referring to was a premature comment that did not take into account new measures, investments and regulations.
That is why prestigious organizations, such as the Canadian Climate Institute, the Pembina Institute, the Business Council of Canada and Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada, have confirmed the feasibility of our plan and modelled projections consistent with those laid out in our emissions reduction plan.
We have the only real, concrete plan that can deliver on the targets, and that is what Canadians need to know.
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- Jun/14/22 2:30:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one out of every four Canadians in this country has reported that they would not be able to afford their home if interest rates continue to rise. The Bank of Canada estimates that mortgage payments will increase by 45% by the year 2025. In response, the Liberal government said that it is not its fault that inflation is going up. That does not cut it. That is not going to help Canadians keep their homes.
Will the Prime Minister increase financial supports directly to Canadians by increasing the GST tax credit and the Canada child benefit to help families keep their homes?
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