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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 230

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 5, 2023 10:00AM
  • Oct/5/23 2:52:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is focused on lowering grocery prices, and we have legislation on the table that would do that. However, what are the Conservatives focused on? In Alberta, they are trying to pull out of the Canada pension plan. Canadians who have contributed for their whole lives to the CPP, seniors who have contributed for their whole lives to their pensions, are having the rug pulled out from under them. Will the Conservative leader stand up in the House and tell his colleagues to keep their hands off Canadians' pensions?
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  • Oct/5/23 2:53:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, after eight long years of disastrous management, the government is introducing carbon tax 2.0, and the Bloc is on board. The Bloc wants to radically increase that carbon tax and has voted with the government twice. Voting for the Bloc is costly. Groceries are costly. Filling the tank is costly. Housing is costly. Why does the Liberal government not axe its second carbon tax, which applies to Quebec and received the Bloc's support twice?
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  • Oct/5/23 2:53:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, there is no federal carbon tax in Quebec because the Province of Quebec is a leader in the fight against climate change. Second, Canadians are worried about the cost of living, but they are also worried about climate change and the impact of natural disasters on our health and our economy. We put a price on pollution to address those two concerns.
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  • Oct/5/23 2:54:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are experiencing an unprecedented housing crisis caused by the Liberals and the Conservatives. It is unconscionable. Outside, tents are popping up faster than truly affordable housing. People are poorly housed, living with mould, but are unable to move because they have nowhere to go. People are suffering. The solutions, however, are no mystery. Will the Liberals buy land to build housing that meets people's needs? Will they use public land for public housing? Will they build social housing, housing co-operatives and community housing?
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  • Oct/5/23 2:55:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree entirely with the need my hon. colleague has flagged, which is to build more affordable housing. I agree that we should be using federally owned land to achieve that outcome. I agree that we should continue to make the investments under the national housing strategy, which is now responsible for the construction or repair of nearly half a million homes across this country. I will be the first to acknowledge that over the course of the past number of decades, governments of both Liberal and Conservative persuasions did not do what was necessary to get the job done. We changed that in 2017. We will continue to make the investments necessary to ensure that everyone in Canada has a place to call home.
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  • Oct/5/23 2:55:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians, particularly Jewish, Polish and Roma Canadians whose family members were murdered by Nazis, demand answers. Meanwhile, the Liberals sit on a secret report on Nazi war criminals who were welcomed into Canada after World War II. We cannot learn from the lessons of the past and heal if the Liberal government is intent on keeping those secrets safe. Will the Liberal government release the Deschênes report so Canadians can finally know who these Nazi war criminals were who were welcomed into Canada?
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  • Oct/5/23 2:56:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what happened over the past 10 days in the House of Commons was completely unacceptable and embarrassing for all of us. The former Speaker of the House accepted full responsibility and resigned, which was the honourable thing to do. The Prime Minister apologized in the House. Our country has a dark history with respect to Nazis in this country, which is particularly hurtful to all Holocaust survivors and particularly to the Jewish community in this country. Senior officials and civil servants are looking carefully at the Deschênes commission report and will be making recommendations soon on the options that are available. An hon. member: Options? Release them.
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  • Oct/5/23 2:57:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that Canadians are feeling the high cost of inflation. No family should have difficulty making ends meet and putting food on the table. Since 2015, the government has made significant investments to support Canadians and make life more affordable. Can the President of the Treasury Board share what the government is doing to ensure that Canadians are getting the support they need, while supporting a strong economy?
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  • Oct/5/23 2:57:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has always been there to support Canadians. Whether it is through the CEBA loan, the grocery rebate, the Canada child benefit or the Canada dental benefit, the fact of the matter is that we will continue to invest in Canadians while prudently managing the fiscal purse. We will also make sure that we are creating jobs and building a strong economy for this country. That is our goal, and we will continue to work hard for Canadians.
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  • Oct/5/23 2:58:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, the price of everything is skyrocketing. “Canada's Food Price Report 2023” states that 64% of Canadians are altering their food-buying habits, moving to dollar stores for groceries and buying less nutritious food. Three per cent of people are eating less. The report blames energy and input costs for this food crisis. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Will the Prime Minister lower food prices by Thanksgiving, or will he break his promise to Canadians?
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  • Oct/5/23 2:59:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are a number of measures that we have put on the table that will stabilize grocery prices and that will build more homes in this country. Consistently, what we have seen from the Conservatives are delay tactics. Thankfully, this morning, we had a Conservative member stand up in the House and say that he was supportive of the government's legislation and that he would be voting for it. I wonder if there are other Conservatives on their bench who are also of that view. Perhaps they could get together and speak to the Conservative leader, because I believe it is actually the Conservative leader who wants to delay help to Canadians.
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  • Oct/5/23 2:59:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I did not hear a yes or no to my question, so I will try again. Food Banks Canada stated that at this time of the year, the number of people turning to food banks is growing. What happens is that people are forced to make impossible choices, choices like paying rent or buying food. NDP-Liberal food inflation is driving food bank usage to its highest levels since Pierre Trudeau, 42 years ago. After eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Will the Prime Minister lower food prices by Thanksgiving, or will he break his promise to Canadians again?
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  • Oct/5/23 3:00:33 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-56 
Mr. Speaker, I find it curious that my hon. colleague is standing up only now to defend the interests of low-income families that might need the services that food banks provide, when his party, over the course of my time in the chamber, has consistently voted against the measures that would make life more affordable for them. I look back to when we first formed government. We raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% and cut them for the middle class, and the Conservatives voted against it. When we changed the Canada child benefit and stopped sending cheques to millionaires so we could put more money into the pockets of nine out of 10 Canadian families, the member voted against it. Every step of the way, including support for food banks during the pandemic, the Conservatives could not get behind it. Will the member now vote for the measures that could have a direct impact on the price of groceries, and support Bill C-56?
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  • Oct/5/23 3:01:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, food bank usage in Newfoundland and Labrador is at a 42-year high. It is no wonder. According to the PBO, carbon taxes 1 and 2 are going to cost households in my home province an extra $2,166 per year. After yesterday's vote, where 23 Atlantic Liberal MPs voted to support this suffering, folks back home are saying that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Will the NDP-Liberal government finally be the servant, not the master, and axe the tax?
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  • Oct/5/23 3:02:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the agri-food sector has endured more extreme weather events, particularly in the province of the member, such as increasingly severe and frequent storms, soil erosion, erratic and unpredicted rainfall, and higher-than-ever temperatures, including here in Ottawa in the last three days. That all results from climate change. As farmers always do, they have persevered. They have developed and implemented more environmentally friendly on-farm practices and have reduced their emissions. The government is supporting them every step of the way through that process, and we will make sure that we continue to be there for farmers and consumers when it comes to lowering food prices.
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  • Oct/5/23 3:02:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the member for Milton should be able to do a better job than that when answering a question. Newfoundlanders and Labradorians want answers. According to a CTV news report, many will not be able to afford a turkey dinner this Thanksgiving. With vegetables and turkey up around 70% in just eight years, the NDP-Liberal carbon tax is now taking food off tables. Will the costly coalition listen to the Liberal premier of Newfoundland and Labrador and axe the tax?
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  • Oct/5/23 3:03:21 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-56 
Mr. Speaker, what the member for Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame will not say is that next week, climate action incentive payments will be arriving in the bank accounts of his constituents. He should make sure they know those are coming. If the member really believes in affordability, then he ought to vote for Bill C-56 and the Atlantic accord, which he is standing against. This is not the Conservative Party of our parents. The Progressive Conservatives stood up against things like acid rain, and they created solutions. The present Conservative leader, the member for Carleton, does not believe in climate change. He has spun his heels. The Conservatives have ditched progressive values and do not care about fighting climate change or fighting for lower grocery prices.
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  • Oct/5/23 3:04:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, September 2023 is the hottest September on record. The temperature of the water in the Gulf of St. Lawrence has hit record highs, with unprecedented marine heatwaves. The trees planted in Saguenay-Lac‑Saint‑Jean to reduce our carbon footprint burned in this summer's wildfires. Meanwhile, we learned from a report that the federal government will increase oil production to record levels within the next two years. Its Trans Mountain pipeline will be wide open and fully operational as of January. That is really discouraging. How is it that the Minister of Environment and Climate Change does not understand this?
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  • Oct/5/23 3:04:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague. It is very important to consider our impact on the environment. That is why our government put a cap on greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. That is one of the key measures in our emissions reduction plan. Oil and gas companies have shown many times that they are able to innovate and develop other new and competitive technologies.
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  • Oct/5/23 3:05:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is October and it is 30°C. Clearly, there is something unusual about this. More and more experts believe that the 1.5°C increase we wanted to avoid before the end of the century will be exceeded by 2030. However, Canada is an oil-producing country, as the Minister of Environment and Climate Change likes to say. It is an oil-producing country that will increase production, rather than slow it down, to the point where it is poised to break all production records within 10 years. Canada is throwing fuel on the fire. Is this what the former environmental activist turned Minister of the Environment wants his legacy to be?
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