44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 1, 2023 11:00AM
- May/1/23 2:52:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's intelligence agency warned the Liberal government that Beijing was the foremost offender for perpetrating foreign influence on Canadians and that it feared no repercussions from the Liberals.
In fact, a Beijing-backed donation of $140,000 to the Trudeau Foundation was designed to influence the Prime Minister. What did he do in response? He appointed two former Trudeau Foundation board members to investigate: $140,000 bought a blind eye from the Prime Minister.
How can Canadians believe anything he says about foreign influence or about the Trudeau Foundation?
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- May/1/23 2:52:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are in an inflection point in history where Liberal democracies are under direct attack. We are seeing it in Europe. We are seeing it all over the world. The objective of those dictatorships is not to elect a political party; it is to destroy democracy.
History will look back to this hour when we were called to stand up against tyranny and we were called to stand shoulder to shoulder against interference. They will ask who did the hard work of standing up against foreign interference and who played games with it. They will ask who sowed fear and division, and who worked to make sure that we protected our democracy.
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- May/1/23 2:53:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, who sowed fear and division? The Prime Minister? Who has been standing, but taking no action? The Prime Minister.
I am extremely concerned that Beijing is not at all concerned about repercussions for foreign interference in our democracy. Between the intimidation of MPs and Chinese Canadians by the Communist regime and now knowing money was directed by Beijing to the Trudeau Foundation to influence the Prime Minister, then the appointment of a past director of the Trudeau Foundation as special rapporteur to investigate interference, this whole situation stinks.
How does the Prime Minister expect us to believe anything he says about the Trudeau Foundation or about preventing foreign inference in our democracy?
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- May/1/23 2:54:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I ask the member opposite, whether it is Russia or China, our collective response to that threat on our democracy, the democracy that the member opposite has tried to defend and protect her whole life, the democracy that I have worked to try to defend and protect my whole life, how do we work together to counter that.
Instead of trying to score partisan political points, or find ways to extract partisan advantage or imply somehow that anybody is advantaged by autocrats who attempt to destroy democracy, we need to stand shoulder to shoulder, side by side against it.
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- May/1/23 2:54:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House how the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, CSIS, explained to the Prime Minister what China thinks of us. China sees Canada as a high-priority target for influencing legislators, business executives and diaspora communities in Canada. CSIS also said that Beijing is the foremost perpetrator of foreign interference in Canada. It could not be any clearer. The Prime Minister knew it.
He also knew that by accepting financial contributions from the Communist regime, the Trudeau Foundation made it easier for the Chinese government to run its influence operations.
Does he agree with the former CEO of the Trudeau Foundation, who spoke out against all of this?
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- May/1/23 2:55:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government takes the issue of foreign interference very seriously. That is why we have already brought in new powers for the intelligence community. That is why we continue to make investments to add people to protect not only our democratic institutions, but also Canadians.
I hope that we can do this work together with the Conservatives, because this is not a partisan issue.
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- May/1/23 2:56:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is all well and good for the minister to announce a few million dollars to work with in the future. The problem we have is finding out that the government and the Prime Minister have known what is going on for several years now. They know that China is a critical threat. I am not making this up; the CSIS reports say as much.
Can the Prime Minister now tell us whether he knew that the Trudeau Foundation was influenced by the donation it received and that the transaction was intended to influence operations in Canada, yes or no?
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- May/1/23 2:56:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, China wants Canada to be divided. Russia wants Canada to be divided. Dictatorships want democracy to be divided.
I am confident that every member of this House believes in the importance of democracy. We must all fight together for our democracy and assure Canadians that our democracy is strong.
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- May/1/23 2:57:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been few opportunities in recent history to debate the possibility of cutting ties between Canada, including Quebec, and the British monarchy. The patriation of the Constitution, the death of Elizabeth II and the accession of Charles III are rare examples.
According to Angus Reid, a majority of Canadians, not just Quebeckers, believe the time has come to get rid of an outdated, backward-looking institution that is incompatible with the fundamental principle of democracy, namely that we are all equal.
When is the government going to finally get rid of the monarchy?
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- May/1/23 2:58:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today we have the option of discussing the fight against climate change, health, dental care and ways to help our seniors and our families, but the Bloc Québécois has different priorities. Its priority is the monarchy, a constitutional review and days, weeks and months of sitting down with everyone here to debate the issue.
It might be the Bloc Québécois's priority, but it is not the priority of Quebeckers or Canadians.
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- May/1/23 2:58:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is a proponent of the status quo. If people say they want nothing to do with the King, the Prime Minister replies that there are other more important files.
He should simply admit that the Liberals are monarchists and then have an honest debate, as we do with the Conservatives. Instead, he tells those who reject the monarchy that it is not a priority and that he has better things to do.
If the monarchy is not a priority, why is the Prime Minister going to the coronation of Canada's King instead of going to his own party's convention?
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- May/1/23 2:59:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for mentioning our convention. Thousands of Liberals will be coming from across the country to talk about the future of our country and take the time to reflect about government.
Once again, instead of debating issues vital to the development of our society and preparing the future of our children, the Bloc wants to come to the House and talk about constitutional change.
The Bloc Québécois has one obsession: Canada's Constitution. Our obsession is to make our society better.
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- May/1/23 2:59:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Neufchâtel neighbourhood of Quebec City is home to Amélie et Frédérick, a community assistance organization and food bank that has seen an increase in demand.
The same is true of the community fridge in Loretteville, the Val Bon Coeur community fridge in Val‑Bélair and the Boîte à FringAL community fridge in Ancienne‑Lorette. People who were donating food two years ago are now coming in to get it. We are in a G7 country, but there are people who do not have enough to eat.
When will this Prime Minister finally stand up, step off his private jet and really try to understand the needs of all Canadians?
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- May/1/23 3:00:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we agree that more needs to be done to help Canadians, especially at times like these, when we are just recovering from the pandemic and inflation rates are quite high.
That is why our budget addresses the priorities of Canadians. It helps those who really need it. It will help improve our health and dental care across the country and create the clean economy of the future that will enable us to meet our net-zero targets.
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- May/1/23 3:00:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 1.5 million Canadians are using food banks.
Today, the reality is that rent costs twice as much as it did eight years ago. For Canadians, mortgages currently cost twice as much as they did eight years ago, when the Liberals took office. Something is wrong here in Canada.
Meanwhile, what are we seeing? We are seeing the Prime Minister living large and jet setting off to New York and back.
What we are asking is that the Prime Minister come down off his tower, come back down to earth and tell Canadians what he will actually do to help them.
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- May/1/23 3:01:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent, whom I highly respect, but I think he is missing a page from our history book.
The Prime Minister did listen to Canadians. The first thing they asked us to do was to help them with the cost of living. The most recent budget, which we expect the Conservatives to vote against, contains the grocery rebate, which will help 11 million Canadians.
If the member wants to help the people of Loretteville and Louis-Saint-Laurent, then he should convince his colleagues to vote in favour of the federal budget. That will help the people in his riding.
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- May/1/23 3:02:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, under this Liberal government, violent crimes have gone up by 32% while under a Conservative government, they went down by 23%.
In some Montreal neighbourhoods, the sound of gunshots is now part of daily life, and yet this government with its soft-on-crime policies is doing nothing to address the problem.
Criminals are on the street instead of in prison. When will the government side with victims and honest citizens who are too scared to walk around their neighbourhoods?
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- May/1/23 3:02:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have long been working with the provinces to strengthen the bail system. I hope that we will see results soon.
I also note that the provinces are themselves in the process of strengthening the administration of their systems. We are seeing that in British Columbia. We are seeing that with the investments being made in Ontario.
Last week, we introduced Bill S‑12, which will strengthen victims rights in cases of sexual assault.
We are working together on problems to improve Canadians' lives.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, Bill C‑11 received royal assent. It was a painstaking process and, as we know, the Conservatives and their leader chose to support billionaires and web giants instead of supporting and defending the interests of our Canadian artists.
Now that Bill C‑11 has passed into law, can the minister tell us the impact it will have on our Canadian culture?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and excellent work.
This is a great moment, a very great moment. Web giants will now have to contribute to our culture. They will have to promote it. They will have to pay their fair share.
A big thank you to the cultural sector, who has fought for years, and a big thank you to my Liberal, Bloc Québécois and NPD colleagues and to the senators. This is a great moment for Canada.
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