SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 134 - Nov/24/22

Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, CPC)

Nov/24/22 3:09:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, inflation is stuck at a 40-high year and the cost of groceries is up 11%. Rural Manitoba seniors like Suzanne are skipping meals. Suzanne is skipping meals so often that she is actually not eating two or three days each week. She is wearing her winter jacket in her home so she does not have to turn up her heat and she is struggling to put gas in her car to drive an hour and a half to Winnipeg to see her doctor. When will the Liberals stop hurting our seniors and axe the carbon tax increase on heating and eating?

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Hon. Kamal Khera (Minister of Seniors, Lib.)

Nov/24/22 3:10:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to look at the facts. The fact is that when the Conservative Party was in power, its plan for seniors was to raise the age of retirement to 67. The fact is the first thing we did was we reversed it back to 65. The fact is that the party opposite opposed every single measure that we put forward to support seniors, including the increase to the guaranteed income supplement, including an increase to old age security by 10% for those 75 and over, including our enhancements to the CPP. I will not take any lessons from the party opposite in supporting seniors. We are going to continue to be here for them.

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Mr. Warren Steinley (Regina—Lewvan, CPC)

Nov/24/22 3:10:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, talking about just the facts, here are some facts. For seven years, taxes have gone up on all Canadians. For seven years, emissions have gone up. We had a better record on emissions than the Liberal government ever has had. Those are the facts. Here are some more facts. Some 1.5 million Canadians rely on food banks to put food on their tables. Universities are sending out fundraising letters so that kids at our universities in Canada can eat before they go to bed. This is the Canada these Liberals have made, so when will they get it together and stop forcing their failed carbon tax on all Canadians?

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Hon. Seamus O'Regan (Minister of Labour, Lib.)

Nov/24/22 3:11:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am so delighted to get this opportunity right now to be able to tell a family of four in Newfoundland and Labrador that they will be getting $1,312 in their bank account every year. Four times a year, they will have cash in the bank: $328 in July, next July; $328 in October, just when they are getting ready for the winter, and again in January and again in April. I welcome another question from the other side so I can talk about how we are putting more money back into the hands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

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Mr. George Chahal (Calgary Skyview, Lib.)

Nov/24/22 3:12:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this past Tuesday marked National Housing Day, and I am proud to say that it was this government— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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Housing

The Speaker

Nov/24/22 3:12:30 p.m.
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I am going to have to interrupt, as I am having a hard time hearing the question. We take turns here, and it is his turn now. As for shouting questions, it does not work that way. The hon. member for Calgary Skyview may begin from the top so we can hear the full question.

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Mr. George Chahal

Nov/24/22 3:12:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this past Tuesday marked National Housing Day, and I am proud to say that it was this government that legislated the recognition of housing as a human right. Since its launch, the national housing strategy has invested upward of $72 billion to ensure that every Canadian has a roof over their head. Could the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion tell this House about the work our government has done and continues to do for Canadians from coast to coast to coast?

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Hon. Ahmed Hussen (Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, Lib.)

Nov/24/22 3:13:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his strong advocacy on this issue. Since coming into office, we have had historic investments to create and repair over 440,000 homes across the country. We are not stopping there. Earlier this month, I launched the third round of the rapid housing initiative, which will ensure an additional 4,500 deeply affordable homes for the most vulnerable across the country. We believe, on this side of the House, that housing is a human right, and we will not rest until each and every Canadian has access to a safe and affordable place to call home.

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Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)

Nov/24/22 3:14:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been failing veterans for years. The minister has refused to hire permanent staff to support veterans, has suspended services for over a month and is now delegating tasks to a private company owned by Loblaws for hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, VAC has delayed the contract rollout because workers have not been properly trained. This is a crisis. Veterans deserve so much better. Why is the minister putting profits ahead of care for our veterans and their families, and will he stop this botched contract?

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Mr. Darrell Samson (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, Lib.)

Nov/24/22 3:14:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to explain to the House why this is a totally unacceptable and irresponsible question. This new contract will give 14,000 veterans access to 9,000 medical services staff, and there will be 600 offices available to them. This will also allow our case managers to reduce their administrative time and have more time to spend with our veterans.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Nov/24/22 3:15:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for years the residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands have had the pristine environment where they live, on the shores of the Salish Sea, contaminated by polluting commercial anchorages, which is essentially free parking for freighters. Since last month, the Port of Vancouver has been holding what it calls public consultation. The constituents of Saanich—Gulf Islands do not feel consulted. They once again feel ignored, as the Port of Vancouver tells them these anchorages are essential to the Port of Vancouver instead of figuring out how to make the Port of Vancouver efficient.

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Hon. Omar Alghabra (Minister of Transport, Lib.)

Nov/24/22 3:16:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the last couple of years, we have seen global supply disruptions that have impacted our supply chains at home. Because of that, we have seen congestion at airports and an increased number of vessels anchored next to our coast. I have been listening to constituents on the coast, particularly where the hon. colleague is raising the point. I want to assure her that we are putting together an action plan to address this. We tabled Bill C-33 just two weeks ago. It will introduce new tools to help mitigate the traffic of the vessels. We will work with her and constituents to make sure that we manage this adequately.

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The Speaker

Nov/24/22 3:16:52 p.m.
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I am afraid that is all the time we have for question period today. I will ask everyone to take a deep breath and, if they have a conversation, they can take it into the lobby. In the meantime, I believe the hon. opposition House leader has a question today.

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Hon. Andrew Scheer (House leader of the official opposition, CPC)

Nov/24/22 3:18:01 p.m.
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Yes, Mr. Speaker, it is the best part of Thursday. It is the Thursday question. I just want to ask the government House leader if he can inform the members as to the business for the rest of this week and for next week as well. I would like to take the opportunity to make a couple of suggestions for government business. We had the Bank of Canada governor admit at committee that deficits fuel inflation, so I was wondering if there would be an opportunity for the government to introduce another fall economic update where it would lower its deficits. Also, I was wondering if the government might schedule a take-note debate at some point next week so that the House can really study the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report that concludes, based on numbers that the government has provided, that the vast majority of Canadians pay far more in the carbon tax than anything they hope to receive in the form of a rebate.

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Hon. Mark Holland (Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Nov/24/22 3:19:09 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-4 Bill C-29 Bill C-27 Bill C-26 Bill C-20

Mr. Speaker, far be it from me to ruin the best part of Thursday, although the opposition House leader and I may be alone in the opinion that this is the best part of Thursday. I am beginning to think, and I could be wrong in this supposition, that the hon. opposition House leader is making statements and not asking questions. However, in the event that there is a question, I would be happy to respond. First, it is not enough, of course, when we take a look down the list, that we have lower inflation rates than many countries, whether it is the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, the entire eurozone, Iceland, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the United States or Ireland. I could go on and on. It does not matter that we have one of the lowest inflation rates in the world. That is cold comfort to somebody who is working hard and trying to pay the bills. That is why— An hon. member: Oh, oh! Hon. Mark Holland: Mr. Speaker, we are not going to stop the supports we have for Canadians. In fact, I would suggest to the member opposite that making sure our most vulnerable are protected is critical. That is why we have a number of things we are going to be doing in that regard, which I will illuminate in a moment. As to the other question that was put, I do seriously want to ask, if the Conservatives are opposed to action on the climate, whether they have reflected about what the costs are. These are not costs that will be borne for a year or two but for all time. It is something to reflect on regarding the questions that were posed to me. I am pleased that this afternoon we are going to complete the second reading debate of Bill S-4, an act to amend the Criminal Code and the Identification of Criminals Act and to make related amendments to other acts. Tomorrow, we will go back to the second reading debate of Bill C-20, concerning the public complaints and review commission act. On Monday, we will resume second reading debate of Bill C-27, the digital charter implementation act, 2022. For Tuesday and Wednesday, we will call Bill C-29, an act to provide for the establishment of a national council for reconciliation, which was reported with amendments from committee earlier this week. Mr. Speaker, I see you moving in your chair, so you will be happy to know that, finally, for next Thursday, our plan is to commence second reading debate of Bill C-26, the critical cyber systems protection act.

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The Speaker

Nov/24/22 3:21:44 p.m.
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I was squirming in my chair when both House leaders were up. I just want to remind them of something. I know both of them have a bit of knowledge on procedure in the House, and the Thursday question is a question, not a statement. I know they did not do it on purpose. Well, I will let the jury out on that. I just wanted to remind them of that before we proceed to the point of order being put forward by the hon. member for Perth—Wellington.

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Mr. John Nater

Nov/24/22 3:22:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would draw your attention to the article, “It Being Thursday: The Weekly Business Statement in Minority and Majority Parliaments”, which does a great job, I might say, of outlining the evolution of the Thursday question and how wonderful statement of the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle was. Frankly, if we were to go back in history, to when the Liberals were last in power, we would find that it was a time when the Liberals used it as a partisan shenanigan. It was actually the Conservatives who were able to rein that in to have an excellent way of making statements, as the member for Regina—Qu'Appelle did earlier today.

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The Speaker

Nov/24/22 3:22:53 p.m.
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I am sure the hon. member is not arguing for shenanigans to continue. I would not want that. I would want the question asked to find out what is going to happen from both sides so we can move on.

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Mr. Richard Lehoux (Beauce, CPC)

Nov/24/22 3:24:00 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-4

Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed the speech that my colleague from Saint-Jean made earlier. I would like to ask her a simple question. There is a lot of talk about improving technology, and this bill talks about using audio conferencing. Video conferencing is relevant, but what does she think about the possibility of using audio conferencing only?

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Ms. Christine Normandin (Saint-Jean, BQ)

Nov/24/22 3:24:26 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-4

Mr. Speaker, the issue as to whether it should be expanded was raised by the Barreau du Québec in the brief it submitted when debate began on this bill. I understand that audio conferencing can be part of the solution in exceptional circumstances when video is not allowed, but it must be interpreted very narrowly. That is why I welcome the fact that the law will be reviewed in three years' time by an independent committee and in five years' time by a parliamentary committee, to see whether it is actually working and whether procedural safeguards are being maintained, which the courts may be called upon to do. Furthermore, we could see the law evolve when it comes into force, particularly in relation to procedural safeguards and fairness. Perhaps this will be one of the sections of the law that will not hold up at that time. It remains to be seen.

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