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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 266

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 12, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 266 - Dec/12/23
Hon. Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:05:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives showed their true colours last week. For 24 hours, the Conservative leader and his entire party voted in favour of cuts to our plan to support and grow the middle class. They voted against the Canadian dental care plan. They voted against programs to build homes. They voted against funding for our $10-a-day child care plan. They even voted against—
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The Speaker
  • Dec/12/23 3:06:06 p.m.
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The hon. member for Cypress Hills—Grasslands.
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Mr. Jeremy Patzer (Cypress Hills—Grasslands, CPC)
  • Dec/12/23 3:06:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, the cost of taking over a family farm is becoming insurmountable. A family in Elrose has passed their family farm down to the next generation. Over the past year, the carbon tax on natural gas alone has cost this young family over $3,000 and the Prime Minister's Christmas gift to them is to quadruple the carbon tax. This is just insane. Since the Prime Minister will not axe the tax before Christmas, does he truly believe a new generation of farmers should pay these ridiculous costs, or has making farming unaffordable been his goal all along?
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Hon. Seamus O'Regan (Minister of Labour and Seniors, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:06:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, are we meant to believe that on the other side of the House, in their zeal to vote against a carbon tax that they see as harming farmers, they would vote against all funding for Canada's poultry, egg and dairy farmers? Is that a way to support farmers? Is the way to support first nations to cut all housing for new housing on reserve for first nations? Is the way to help families to cut affordable child care and affordable dental care? No one believes them.
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Mrs. Rosemarie Falk (Battlefords—Lloydminster, CPC)
  • Dec/12/23 3:07:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this Christmas, Canadians are shouldering the weight of the NDP-Liberal government's costly carbon tax. Every gift under the tree, every family visit and every meal prepared will come at an additional cost. The Prime Minister's punishing carbon tax is ruining Christmas. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadian families are tired of making the unimaginable sacrifices. The NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost. Will the Prime Minister allow his heart to grow three sizes and axe the carbon tax on families, first nations and farmers?
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Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:08:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from my hon. colleague, but Canadians have some questions for the Conservative Party after its leader's $2-million temper tantrum last week. The first question is, since an average family of four in Ontario receives more than $300 back from the climate action incentive, why are the Conservatives so hell-bent on taking money from lower- and middle-income Canadian families? The second question is this: Why are they so hell-bent on betraying Ukraine? My third question for the member for Battlefords—Lloydminster is, why is she so against the farms in her riding that received over $120,000 in climate action rebates?
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Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, CPC)
  • Dec/12/23 3:08:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the president of the CBC is completely out of touch with reality. A month ago, she hired a Paris-based company to translate a podcast, rather than hiring Quebeckers, because she did not like our accent. Now, when hundreds of employees are wondering whether they will still have a job after Christmas, she has decided to head off to Australia for a good time, even though she is supposed to be deciding whether she should follow through with her plans to give her executives bonuses. Does the Minister of Canadian Heritage still have confidence in the president of the CBC, Catherine Tait, to lead Radio-Canada?
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Hon. Pascale St-Onge (Minister of Canadian Heritage, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:09:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question, because it gives me an opportunity to remind everyone in the House, as well as all Quebeckers, that the last time the Conservative Party was in power, it made cuts to CBC/Radio-Canada that jeopardized the public broadcaster's future. Still today, the Conservatives want to destroy the CBC, even though they are saying that they will protect Radio-Canada, as if that were doable. All the Conservatives want is to no longer have a public broadcaster and to undermine Canadian democracy. That is shameful. Once again, we are seeing their true colours.
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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:10:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know governments that have strong representation by women and strong women leaders invest more in people. Just last week we saw the Conservative Party, which has a caucus that is only 17% women and lacks diverse representation, oppose program after program that invests in Canadians. In fact, Conservatives voted 120 times “no” to investing in Canadians. Could the President of the Treasury Board share with us how the reckless Conservatives would have greatly hurt the very Canadians we are working so hard to support?
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Hon. Anita Anand (President of the Treasury Board, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:10:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, parliamentarians voted on 120 measures to support Canadians, especially vulnerable Canadians. These included supports to the Canadian Armed Forces and supports for families for affordable child care, as well as supports for more affordable housing. Canadians deserve opportunities to succeed, yet on 120 occasions, Conservatives voted against Canadians. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with Canadians every single time.
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Mr. Blake Desjarlais (Edmonton Griesbach, NDP)
  • Dec/12/23 3:11:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, by 2026, nearly 60,000 households in Edmonton will live in unsuitable housing or will not be able to afford rent because of the government's failure to build affordable homes. Corporate Conservatives and delay Liberals continue to play cover for rich developers and billionaires as they renovict my constituents. Last year, 156 people died in Edmonton because they were homeless. These were deaths that could have been prevented had the government acted sooner. Again, when will the government get the money out the door to build social and co-op housing now?
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Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:12:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his advocacy to continue to invest in affordable housing, including co-operative housing. I would point him to the recent fall economic statement, which increased grant funding to co-operative housing by more than $300 million, and we will be rolling out a program worth more than $1.5 billion beginning early in the new year. I do agree with him on one point of his question, however, which is the Conservatives' dedication to opposing funding for affordable housing. In fact, just last week, when they had an opportunity to put their position on the record in the chamber, they voted against supports for affordable housing. They voted against emergency transition shelters for women and children, and they voted against supports for veterans living through homelessness. It is the—
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The Speaker
  • Dec/12/23 3:12:50 p.m.
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The hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith.
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Ms. Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo—Ladysmith, NDP)
  • Dec/12/23 3:13:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, open-net fish farms pollute our waters and impact food security. In 2022 alone, more than 800,000 herring were killed because of open-net fish farm activity. Now, the B.C. premier says the social licence for these fish farms has expired. The Liberals promised to get these farms out of the water by 2025 with a real jobs plan, yet so far there has been nothing, so I will ask again, where is the plan so coastal communities, workers and first nations are not left behind?
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Hon. Diane Lebouthillier (Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:14:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government remains committed to developing a responsible transition plan for open-net pen aquaculture. We continue to work on a transition plan that protects Pacific salmon while providing support to workers and their communities and advancing reconciliation. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, along with my office, continues to have constructive conversations with stakeholders regarding next steps.
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Hon. Judy A. Sgro (Humber River—Black Creek, Lib.)
  • Dec/12/23 3:14:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you would find unanimous consent to adopt the following motion. I move: Whereas Jimmy Lai stands for so many of the values championed by Canadians, most importantly, media freedom, respect for the rule of law and standing up for what is right; Whereas Mr. Lai is a peaceful pro-democracy campaigner and publisher whose usually popular newspaper, Apple Daily, was shut down for political reasons in 2021; Whereas Mr. Lai has just spent his 76th birthday in prison, where he has been for the last three years on charges brought under the national security law whose provisions are inconsistent with international human rights law; Whereas Mr. Lai is about to face trial on yet further charges arising from his pro-democracy writing and campaigning that could see him spend the rest of his life behind bars; Therefore, the House resolves to call upon the Hong Kong authorities to release Jimmy Lai and cease prosecuting him and others charged under the national security law and the House reaffirms journalists and media workers everywhere have the right to operate in an environment free from intimidation and harassment by state authorities.
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The Speaker
  • Dec/12/23 3:16:05 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will please say nay. It is agreed. The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.
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Ms. Marilyn Gladu
  • Dec/12/23 3:16:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Today is Christmas on the Hill. There have been discussions among the parties, and if you seek it, I believe you will find unanimous consent for the following motion. I move that the House designate December as Christian heritage month. An hon. member: No.
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Mrs. Cathay Wagantall
  • Dec/12/23 3:17:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I want to draw attention to the fact that responses on the other side of the House today made Canadians feel very blue because they know Conservatives voted non-confidence in the government.
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The Speaker
  • Dec/12/23 3:17:26 p.m.
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That is not a point of order.
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