44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 17, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/17/22 11:22:42 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as the hon. member and many Canadians know, after two years of travel restrictions in this pandemic there is an unprecedented backlog of applications both in Canada and around the world. This has led to delays in processing and issuance, but the minister has been adamant with the department to address the situation and improve service and we continue to do so on a day-to-day basis because the situation is not acceptable. Canadians need their documents. We will keep Canadians informed about additional measures as we take them, and encourage people to plan ahead to ensure they have passports planned before booking. I would like to also emphasize that those who—
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- Jun/17/22 11:23:19 a.m.
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The hon. member for Red Deer—Lacombe has the floor.
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- Jun/17/22 11:23:22 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Passport Canada’s narrow definition of “need” for expediting a passport is very troublesome.
If people have an upcoming ticket to Disney World, they can get an expedited passport. If they are pleading to expedite their passport so they can fly to say goodbye to their dying parent or go to Europe to help their scared, elderly mother escape from Ukraine, that is not really an urgent need according to Passport Canada.
If the minister cannot be competent, can she at least try to be compassionate?
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- Jun/17/22 11:24:01 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to be clear that those clients and Canadians who need to travel for humanitarian reasons or other compassionate purposes, such as critical illness or other emergencies including the death of another person, can obtain a passport within two business days with proof of travel or need. This standard is being pressed upon and upheld from coast to coast to coast at every Passport Canada counter across the country.
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- Jun/17/22 11:24:59 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, yesterday in Toronto, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance was supposed to make an announcement that would give Canadians some relief from inflation. Unfortunately, once again, the Minister of Finance showed that she is completely out of touch with the reality all Canadians are facing. There was no announcement at all, just more rehashing of the same Liberal talking points.
Here is a simple question for the government: Why is the Liberal government refusing to give Canadian families a break by lowering taxes?
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- Jun/17/22 11:25:31 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the answer is very simple. We lowered taxes for the middle class, and the Conservatives voted against it. It is unacceptable that today the Conservatives are asking us to do something they refused to do a few years ago.
Yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister announced our plan to support Canadians during this time of inflation and rising costs of living. It is a serious plan. The Conservatives have no suggestions.
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- Jun/17/22 11:25:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, every Canadian knows that on April 1, this government increased the Liberal carbon tax. Writing in Le Journal de Québec and Le Journal de Montréal today, Loïc Tassé was blunt but truthful.
He wrote that all these measures by the Liberal government will not fight inflation. On the contrary, they will accelerate it. He asks: “What magical world is she living in?”
The problem is that while the minister is living in her magical world, Canadians are living in the Liberal government's Canada, where taxes are spiralling. Why is the government refusing to lower taxes for all Canadians?
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- Jun/17/22 11:26:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in his question, my colleague talked about carbon pricing. I would like to begin by reminding him that federal carbon pricing does not apply in Quebec because Quebec has its own cap-and-trade system.
Second, in provinces where carbon pricing is in effect, people get more back from the system than they put into it. In Ontario, families will get $745 this year. In Manitoba, they will get $830. In Saskatchewan, they will get $1,100, and in Alberta, they will get $1,080. Canadians are better off with the pollution pricing system.
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- Jun/17/22 11:26:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a treat when the founder of Équiterre, who is currently being sued by Équiterre, is in teacher mode.
The fact is, countries such as Germany, England, Australia, South Korea and the United States have taken steps to lower taxes, especially those that affect the price of gas, which affects everyone, particularly when it is time to buy groceries.
Groceries need to be transported. That takes gas, which means taxes are rolled into prices. Why is the government refusing to lower taxes?
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- Jun/17/22 11:27:35 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, honestly, it is such a shame that one of our colleagues from Quebec is arguing favour of cutting taxes for oil companies when we know we are facing a climate crisis here in Canada and around the world.
We will end up paying a lot more if we do not tackle the climate crisis right now. That is what we this side of the House are doing.
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- Jun/17/22 11:28:04 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Quebec's minister of the French language, Simon Jolin‑Barrette, has been invited to address the Académie française. He will head to Paris to explain to “the immortals”, who have been defending the French language for 400 years, how Quebec plans to protect its national language.
The Minister of Official Languages has also introduced a bill that is supposed to protect the future of French. Has she also been invited to address the Académie française?
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- Jun/17/22 11:28:34 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her question.
We recognize that French is in decline in North America and that French is in decline in Canada. That is why we went ahead with a much more robust version of the bill, to ensure that we can address this situation.
I want to once again extend an invitation to the opposition members, especially the Bloc Québécois, to work with us because we do share a common objective, which is to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect the beautiful French language.
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Madam Speaker, I will take that as a no. It is probably because Bill C‑13 does not really protect French in Quebec. It protects institutional bilingualism, which results in the anglicization of workplaces and reduces the perception of the importance of being fluent in French in Quebec. Bill C‑13 does not recognize that French is the only official language that requires protection in light of the predominance of English in North America.
Is it possible that the Académie française did not invite the Minister of Official Languages because Bill C‑13 lacks vision?
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Madam Speaker, very briefly, it is clear that the member opposite has not read Bill C‑13, because the opposite is true.
I really believe that the Bloc Québécois is misleading Canadians. We have moved forward with a new bill to ensure that all federally regulated private businesses are subject to this new law, that workers can work in French and that clients can be served in French, and also that they live in French in their community.
Once again, I would like to make sure that the members of the opposition will work with the government to pass this bill as quickly as possible.
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- Jun/17/22 11:30:15 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, hard-working Canadians are getting crushed by the rising cost of living. People across the country can barely afford the gas to drive to work or to get groceries.
Yesterday, the government had a chance to finally give them a helping hand. Instead, the Deputy Prime Minister was on Bay Street, reassuring the richest 1% that the Liberals would not tax record oil and gas profits or give Canadians the help they need right now.
What will it take for the government to stop making re-announcements and finally stand up for working class Canadians getting gouged at the pumps?
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- Jun/17/22 11:30:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Finance did give a speech on Bay Street in order to explain to Canadians how we have their backs in this time of unprecedented volatility on a global scale.
In fact, she detailed a five-point plan that is going to help Canadians deal with the inflationary crisis that we are seeing right around the world. We have an affordability plan that is putting money directly back into the pockets of Canadians. What the NDP is proposing is tax hikes on grocery stores, which could only lead to increased prices for groceries—
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- Jun/17/22 11:31:29 a.m.
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The hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona.
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- Jun/17/22 11:31:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in her speech at the Empire Club this week, the Deputy Prime Minister treated inflation like it was a public relations problem for the government rather than the very real financial issue that it is for so many Canadians.
As she was speaking, new mothers on employment insurance and others depending on EI were having their EI payments garnished to pay debt back to the government while they were trying to keep their homes. It is the wrong approach. We did not hear anything new in the speech yesterday.
I am hoping we are soon going to hear that the government will bring into force a low-income CERB repayment amnesty and a freeze on payments for middle-class Canadians who are struggling to keep their homes in this time of inflation. When are we going to hear that?
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- Jun/17/22 11:32:21 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the finance critic for the NDP for his question and for his work on the finance committee.
I would point out that yesterday's plan announced by our Minister of Finance included many supports that Canadians would feel for the first time this year. For a couple in Ontario with an income of $45,000 and a child in day care, our plan could mean an additional $7,350 this year, above existing benefits. This is real money going back into the pockets of real Canadians.
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- Jun/17/22 11:32:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canadians are struggling and looking for relief, but instead, they are getting skyrocketing costs, unaffordable groceries and toonie-a-litre gas. It is because of the Liberals' reckless spending and double dipping with taxes on top of taxes that Canadians are barely making it to the end of the month. Just like George Costanza, these Liberals will keep dipping as they see fit. It is disgusting.
When will the Liberals stop double dipping in Canadians' pockets and give us some relief?
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