44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 1, 2023 11:00AM
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is absolutely right. I am probably one of the few members of this House who actually knew Tommy Douglas personally. It was part of Tommy Douglas' vision for medicare, more generally, to ensure that health issues, dental being a health issue, were addressed. In fact, Saskatchewan for a long time, led the way. Allan Blakeney brought out a dental care program in every school in the province to ensure that children had their teeth treated. It was eliminated by then Conservative premier Grant Devine.
This is an important step forward from a health perspective and we are very much committed to moving forward.
108 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I am participating in this debate because the budget implementation act really does impact the backyards of the people I am here to represent. There is a range of things in the budget implementation act, including measures in regard to cryptocurrency. We know that the world is changing. We know the economy is changing and sometimes we have really reckless advice from the leader of the official opposition, but it is important that we understand these things.
I would like to hear from the member how Canadians can also participate and have their voices heard. Even though the official opposition is trying to delay the legislation we are trying to pass, how do we engage more Canadians so that they can have their say and we can respond to their needs? I feel like this budget implementation act does do that.
I would like to hear the member's comments also on cryptocurrency.
155 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, certainly we are focused on serious issues that Canadians expect their parliamentarians to focus on. We are not making strange and awkward statements with respect to embracing cryptocurrency or trying to fire the governor of the Bank of Canada.
We are focused very much on ensuring that Canadians are part of this process. Definitely on this side of the House, members of Parliament reach out through town halls and a range of things to ensure that they are hearing the voices of Canadians. That is reflected in this budget implementation act. There is an automatic advance for the Canada workers benefit. There is a doubling of the deduction for tradespeople's tools. There are improved registered education savings plans. We are working to strengthen Canada's supply chains. We are supporting our friends in Ukraine. We are building a clean economy. We are putting in place dental care. We are investing in health care and we are working on affordability to ensure that Canadian families can move forward with confidence.
172 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I want to reiterate what many members on this side of the House have been saying.
Constituents in the riding of Provencher are very concerned with the increased cost of living, and we have seen the government put a disproportionate amount of emphasis in this bill, Bill C-47, on environmental spending and green spending, which is something that needs to be debated more rigorously.
We also know the government has chosen to take $13 billion of taxpayer money and commit it to Volkswagen for an apparent green initiative. My question is to the Minister of Natural Resources, who tabled this motion. Many of these initiatives are going to require the mining of critical minerals and other minerals in order for them to be successful here in Canada. Is he prepared to move legislation forward that would remove some of the regulations and roadblocks his government has set up that make mining in Canada virtually impossible?
158 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I am always very happy to talk about a clean industrial strategy for Canada. That was a very big part of this budget, as the hon. colleague talked about. It is about ensuring Canada will prosper and create jobs and economic opportunity in every province and territory in this country as we move through a transition to a lower-carbon future, which science tells us we simply must.
Certainly, we were very pleased to announce the Volkswagen investment in Canada. It is an enormous step forward. It will create jobs, it will create supply chains and it will ensure we are driving forward in a manner that will ensure Canada is prosperous in the future. I am, to be honest, shocked the Conservative Party is opposing the Volkswagen agreement. That is really appalling. I think voters in Ontario are going to think very seriously about this, as well as voters who are concerned about a strong economy in the future.
We are very focused on the critical minerals. I hope my hon. friend has read the critical minerals strategy for Canada. Part of that is about making our regulatory and permanent processes more efficient and working with provinces and territories through the regional energy and resource tables to align those processes and enable good projects to go ahead. We just announced the approval of two critical minerals projects in this country and we expect to see many more.
240 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, the government is asking us to go to committee and discuss the budget implementation bill, and that is a worthwhile exercise. The problem is that, as the bill stands currently, we would not be able to do a good job because many unrelated items have been thrown into the same basket.
It makes sense that the budget would include the Volkswagen subsidy. However, as my colleague from Berthier—Maskinongé pointed out earlier, this budget also includes recognition of the King of England.
That has nothing to do with the budget, and we would oppose it, but the government refuses to take it out of the budget. If we had a real bill for each of these items, instead of an omnibus bill, we would be able to do the effective and valuable work our colleague has urged us to do.
Could I ask him to suggest to the Prime Minister and all members of government that they reconsider this decision and introduce bills that can be worked on in committee so we can do the work we were elected to do?
185 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I understand that the Bloc members have many questions about this bill and the many measures it provides to help Canadians and Quebeckers. Bloc members will have an excellent opportunity to ask officials and witnesses questions at the committee stage.
I encourage those members to vote with us today to send this bill to committee and to ensure that Canadians receive these supports.
68 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, we heard the Minister of Natural Resources reference the just transition, the transition to a renewable economy and we heard him reference the VW deal.
As a New Democrat, and recognizing today is May Day, one of the things I think is incredibly important in this conversation is the idea of equivalency. That when workers in the oil patches of Alberta are being transitioned, that they are not just being sent to some job retraining centre and they are actually given prevailing wages and equivalency in their work.
I have not quite heard the government tell Canadians, tell working-class people, those who are currently in a carbon economy, what its plan is to ensure that, when announcement like a $13-billion deal is set for a corporation, it is the workers who are not left behind.
I will say this on May Day, on international labour day, that it cannot just be about talking about jobs. It needs to be talking about good work, good unionized work with benefits and pensions and the security a collective agreement provides. Can the hon. Minister of Natural Resources please enlighten us on the government's plan to make sure the billions of dollars it is sending to corporations actually make it to the tables and bank accounts of working-class Canadians?
221 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague that we are very focused on creating good jobs for Canadians going forward. That was really the focus of the work that was done on the sustainable jobs action plan. If one reads the document, it is focused on creating good jobs and economic opportunity in every province and territory in this country.
If we reflect on the investment tax credits that are part of the economic strategy to create those jobs, there are labour requirements that are baked into the investment tax credits. We have been working very closely with the labour movement across the country, but, in particular, the labour movement in Alberta, as we move through this. We are very focused.
I would also say that my concern about the future with respect to the economy is that this economy and the opportunities that are available to Canada are going to enable us to create so many jobs if we are to seize those opportunities. We are actually talking about skill shortages and the need for us to be upgrading and retraining people, ensuring that we are bringing the right skills into Canada.
We have enormous economic opportunities in this country. We intend to seize them and we are certainly going to work with the labour movement and with industry to do so.
224 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, in a debate on Bill C-47, I confine myself to the contents of the bill. Much of the minister's speech and much of the debate in this place did not pertain to the budget itself. I am not criticizing any rulings or trying to get new rulings from the Speaker in terms of relevance, but Bill C-47 is in fact 429 pages of disparate pieces of legislative changes, and I have to say that I find nothing within Bill C-47 with which I disagree and much within the budget with which I disagree. I plan to vote for Bill C-47.
I wonder if the minister has any comments on how we are to proceed with fairly skeletal plans for changes to the Canada Elections Act to protect privacy information.
136 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, we are certainly very focused on ensuring that questions like the ones posed by the hon. member are answered. That is why we want to see this bill move to committee. The Conservative Party continues to obstruct and delay. It is time for us to move forward to ensure that the committee has the time to do the work and answer the kinds of questions that the hon. member is asking.
73 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, on page 84 of the budget, it says, “Projected costs of this agreement”, in reference to the battery manufacturing plant by Volkswagen, “have been fully accounted for in Budget 2023.” Can the minister point out to this House or, maybe at a later date, table how the Volkswagen announcement has in fact been accounted for in the projections put forward by the government?
69 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, as I said, the Volkswagen investment is an enormously important step forward for Canada, as are the investments by Stellantis, by Ford, by Air Products, by Imperial with biofuels, by a whole range of companies that are helping us to build an economy that is going to prosper in the context of a lower-carbon future. One of the reasons why we want to see this bill move to committee is so hon. members, like my colleague across the way, can ask the specific questions that they have on their mind.
93 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, my question is very simple. Can my colleague across the way explain to the people watching what time allocation is, and can he explain why his government moved this time allocation motion that we will be voting on in a few minutes?
44 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, it is very important that this bill be sent to committee so that members of the House can have an opportunity to ask witnesses and officials questions. We cannot wait any longer, because it is important for Canadians that this bill be passed.
50 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I will build upon my colleague's question earlier to the minister about the resources that have been provided to St. Thomas in terms of the Volkswagen plant. At lot of people in my area are excited about that for sure. There is a lot of conversation about job creation. However, within this budget, there were not many announcements about housing and supports for the people who are excited about those jobs, to be able to work and get to the plant.
I wonder if the minister could expand on that in terms of government resources and allocations into the specific housing that would be required for people to live in order to work at that Volkswagen plant.
120 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, the Volkswagen investment is an important step forward for St. Thomas, for Ontario and for Canada as we move toward building an economy that is going to create prosperity for our children and for our children's children in an environment that is sustainable. We certainly need to continue also to work on other issues, including the housing issue that my hon. colleague talks about. That is why this government has committed almost $90 billion under the Canada housing strategy to ensure that we are building the kind of housing that will enable folks to have a place to call home and to ensure that they actually have a good job to go to.
120 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, the member for Calgary Shepard, in his question, said that the government cannot pass legislation and that it passed only one piece of legislation last week, and yet the Conservative agenda is often to be a destructive force on the floor of the House. What the Conservatives prefer to do is prevent the government from passing legislation, and they do that by bringing in concurrence motions, by giving no indication in terms of how many speakers would accommodate the passage of a bill, and sometimes by not even wanting to sit late in the evening.
Does the member not agree that if they are criticizing the government for not passing legislation and then go out of their way to prevent the government from passing legislation, that might be somewhat hypocritical?
132 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, it would not be a big surprise to know that I actually agree exactly with the premise of the question. The hypocrisy that comes from the other side on this issue is quite something, at times. It is important that we are able to move forward. Canadians are expecting their Parliament to function and to function well. The obstruction and delay have slowed down the ability to make progress on behalf of Canadians. It is time for us to move forward.
I would say that the hypocrisy coming from the Conservative members of this House is nothing new. As I have said before, the attacks every day on carbon pricing are really rich, I find, given that each and every one of the Conservatives was elected on the basis of putting in place a carbon tax.
138 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the member across the way about critical minerals. We have already heard about this from a previous member. We heard from the Prime Minister that Canada is extraordinarily well positioned to succeed in the decades to come, around critical minerals. I recently spoke with the Yukon Chamber of Mines, which said it will be decades before we see critical minerals developed in Yukon, three decades. The Prime Minister talks about getting critical minerals developed in the next eight years or less. They said that we would be lucky, with the current regulatory burden on miners, to get that developed in 30 years.
What does this member answer to those miners? After being in government for eight years, how can he reassure the miners in Yukon that this is going to get done?
139 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
