44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 5, 2022 11:00AM
- Dec/5/22 2:46:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for asking this very important question. Indeed, our children are very sick these days.
Respiratory viruses are spreading very quickly, causing tremendous damage to our families and causing parents and grandparents to worry. Our health care workers are having a very tough time.
That is why we need to procure vaccines, take public health measures. That is also why the Canadian government must continue to support the provinces and territories in doing the difficult work of taking care of workers and hospitals at this difficult time.
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- Dec/5/22 2:47:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, sick kids in Alberta are waiting in heated trailers outside hospitals, and now hospice care for children is paused as staff are redeployed to deal with the health care crisis. Families are forced to scramble for help during their last days with their children. While Danielle Smith is distracted by her ridiculous sovereignty act, neither the federal nor the provincial government is protecting the most vulnerable Albertan kids. This is heartbreaking.
When will the government stand up for families dealing with this health care crisis and get sick kids the care they deserve?
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- Dec/5/22 2:47:59 p.m.
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Before the health minister answers, I just want to remind members about talking across the aisle. It is nice to see people getting along and talking well together, but it gets in the way of question period. I just want to remind them that if they really want to talk they can just take a couple of minutes, go outside and then come back when they have everything settled.
The hon. Minister of Health.
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- Dec/5/22 2:48:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada, there have never been as many hospitalizations of children with the flu in the history of Canada as there are at the present time. That means we have to take care of our children.
Vaccination works. It is free for the flu and COVID-19 everywhere across Canada. Public health measures also matter and work. We at the federal level are going to continue to support provinces and territories with historic amounts invested in support of their important work.
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- Dec/5/22 2:49:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for so many Canadians, finding housing that is affordable is becoming incredibly challenging. This is especially true in Scarborough and the entire city of Toronto. There is no question we need to continue to do more.
Can the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion please tell the House about the important progress our government is making to ensure every Canadian has affordable housing that meets their needs?
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- Dec/5/22 2:49:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her strong advocacy on housing in her community. We know how great the need is for affordable housing in various communities across the country, especially in the city of Toronto. That is why last week I was pleased to join the mayor in announcing a federal investment of $90 million to build, renovate, repair and retrofit 750 homes for indigenous peoples, women and children fleeing domestic violence and refugee families. This is just one example of how our investments are making a real and tangible difference in the lives of Canadians, including in communities like Toronto.
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Mr. Speaker, since the Liberals took office, violent crime has risen by 32% and gang-related murders are up 92%.
The Liberals are not addressing the real problem. They should have done something about the illegal gun trafficking at the border a long time ago. Instead, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, the Liberals want to prevent hundreds of thousands of Quebec hunters from participating in an ancestral tradition. The government needs to stop treating hunters like criminals.
When will the government punish the real criminals once and for all?
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Mr. Speaker, the government has been very clear from the beginning. We are not targeting hunters. We are targeting criminals. We are targeting the assault weapons that were used in our country's greatest shooting tragedies.
Bill C-21 targets the criminal element with harsher sentences and with investments for the CBSA.
The Conservatives do not support this bill, which is a very bad thing. They need to change their position.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals continue to deny they are going after Canadian hunters with their latest gun ban, but the ban list is out and hunters across the country have seen many of their commonly used firearms on that list. Hunters from Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies, the north and our indigenous hunters are all speaking out. Even legendary Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price is speaking out. The CBC, in fact, just today, said the list includes a number of long guns in wide use by Canadian farmers.
Why will the Liberals not just admit this was never about public safety and that it was their target all along to go after law-abiding hunters, sport shooters and farmers? This was their plan all along.
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Mr. Speaker, with great respect for my colleague, the intent of the government has always been clear. We are not targeting law-abiding gun owners or hunters. We are targeting the AR-15 style guns used in some of the worst shooting tragedies in this country's history, including Polytechnique.
Recently the Conservatives' friends at the Coalition for Firearms Rights exploited the worst femicide in Canadian history for profit. This was a slap in the face to all the families the victims and survivors of Polytechnique.
Will the Conservatives stand up now, condemn the CCFR and ask it to apologize?
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Mr. Speaker, it seems the only person in this chamber who does not understand this bill is the minister himself.
The bill lists in black and white the exact hunting rifles the bill is banning. Constituents who are calling their members of Parliament, both NDP and Liberal, understand it bans hunting rifles. Carey Price, an NHL goalie, understands it bans hunting rifles. The CBC, and we know the Liberals read the CBC, understands it bans rifles. We also know that backbench Liberal MPs understand that this bill bans hunting rifles.
They cannot have it both ways. Either everyone else is wrong or the minister—
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- Dec/5/22 2:53:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be the first person to stand up and applaud the exemplary work of our rural caucus who defend the rights of hunters, collectors and recreational sport shooters every day.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Marco Mendicino: The Conservatives can mock, but our side of the House knows full well—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Dec/5/22 2:53:51 p.m.
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Order.
The hon. minister. Do it from the top please.
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Mr. Speaker, before I was rudely interrupted by the Conservatives, and am again—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Marco Mendicino: I was highlighting the incredible work of our rural caucus, and indeed of all of our caucus, who understand the importance of the traditions of hunting. I have met with them and will continue to be sure we are not targeting those hunting guns. That is why we are working closely with the members of the committee who are undertaking a very careful study of the language of that bill to make sure it is in alignment with our intent, which is to go after those AR-15 style firearms that were used in the likes of Polytechnique. We never want another one of those tragedies again.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister has it all wrong. Everything he just said is contradicted by the actual text of the bill, the text that we understand, that Liberal backbenchers understand and that their constituents understand. Just because he says it is so does not make it so.
The Liberals' entire philosophy and approach to crime is flawed. The evidence is in. Since they took office, violent crime is up 32% and gang-related homicides are up 90%, yet their plan to combat these things is to go after law-abiding hunters. They need to get their priorities straight, go after the gangsters and leave hunters alone.
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Mr. Speaker, I am one of those hunters, and I know I can speak for all the hunters in this room when I say that we cannot stand it when we see a firearm used, as we heard earlier about Polytechnique, to take other innocent lives.
I would hope we all want to work together to make this bill the best it can be. The terrible misuse of information out there has to stop.
I am also going to tell members that I challenge anyone to please reach out with a specific make and model. The devil is in the details. The weapons on that list are not—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Dec/5/22 2:56:10 p.m.
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The hon. member for La Pointe-de-l'Île.
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Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada is putting the spotlight on the decline of French in the workplace. One the three worst sectors is banking, which is under federal jurisdiction. For 45 years, the federal government has allowed banks to circumvent Bill 101. As a result, this sector has become a major contributor to the anglicization of Quebec.
The Liberals know all this and they have the Statistics Canada figures in hand, so why do they still want to allow the banks to get around the Charter of the French Language in Bill C-13?
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, we acknowledge the decline of French across the country. We also acknowledge the statistics published this year after the census. That is why we introduced an ambitious bill to do everything we can to protect and promote our beautiful French language across the country and to protect our official language minority communities.
Our bill will make it possible for employees of federally regulated private businesses to work in French and for their clients be served in French. Once again, I hope the Bloc Québécois and the opposition parties will support us.
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