44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 1, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/1/24 2:17:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the former director of Le Devoir, Bernard Descôteaux, passed away on January 13, and people's reactions to this sad news say a lot about the kind of man he was.
Mr. Descôteaux, who worked in just about every job there is at Le Devoir, including that of parliamentary correspondent here in Ottawa, was a boss who was well-loved by everyone. He deserves much of the credit for the survival of this veritable Quebec media institution, which he successfully guided through the print media crisis.
This soft-spoken man was a powerful force who always stood up for the independence of his journalists. At a time when the winds of polarization had already begun to blow on our social debates, he remained moderate and objective. Honest, caring, calm and inclusive, this quiet nationalist's intellectual rigour and kindness made a lasting impression on everyone he met.
Our thoughts are with his family and friends, as well as his entire extended Le Devoir family, who just lost a great man.
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Mr. Speaker, the government remains in denial that its punitive carbon tax causes inflation. Who says the carbon tax is inflationary? It is the Parliamentary Budget Officer; the Governor of the Bank of Canada; every farmer, manufacturer, producer, distributor and retailer in Canada; and Canadians who buy food. Maybe Canadians are just experiencing this differently. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, food inflation is out of control. When we tax the farmer, food gets more expensive, yet the costly coalition keeps its head in the sand. Inflation will get worse when the Prime Minister increases the carbon tax on April Fool's.
In contrast, common-sense Conservatives brought forward a solution to address high food costs with Bill C-234, exempting farmers from the carbon tax, but Liberal-appointed senators were whipped to gut the bill.
A Conservative government would axe the tax, fix the budget, build homes and stop the crime.
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- Feb/1/24 2:19:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate the top eight Academic All-Canadian student athletes, who were recognized last night by U Sports and the Governor General for their outstanding achievements: Madisson Lawrence, Jordan Canham, Hannah Blair, Ashton Miller-Melançon, Yoan David, Haley McDonald and Aiden Goslett.
Finally, I give a special shout-out to Emmy Fecteau, captain of the Concordia Stingers women's varsity hockey team, who call NDG's Ed Meagher Arena home. In addition to stellar grades and many athletic accolades, Emmy is active in our community, coaching girls' hockey and as the lead instructor at the Stinger hockey school.
I thank Emmy for having such a positive impact on our community and for inspiring future generations of young girls to play field hockey. I congratulate her and all the student athletes. I encourage them to continue their exceptional work.
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- Feb/1/24 2:20:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the chaos.
His Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship admits that Quebec's housing and services are under intense pressure as a result of the refugee crisis. This crisis followed the Prime Minister's decision to remove visa requirements for Mexicans, increasing the number of refugee applicants from 250 to 17,000. Only 11% of them are accepted as genuine refugees.
Will the Prime Minister reverse his decision, do an about-face and restore order to our system?
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- Feb/1/24 2:21:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as you well know, this kind of decision must be taken seriously. We must first take very important diplomatic steps with Mexico. We will not be making any rushed statements in the House of Commons.
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- Feb/1/24 2:21:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not worth the chaos, nor is he worth the crime.
Auto theft is a federal crisis. The decision to amend the Criminal Code to release car thieves was a federal one. Mismanagement of federal ports makes it possible for thieves to send our vehicles off to terrorists and organized crime. The RCMP, which is responsible for fighting organized crime, is federal, too.
Will the Prime Minister reverse course on his mismanagement and his changes to the federal Criminal Code in order to fight the crisis he caused?
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- Feb/1/24 2:22:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know the opposition leader likes coming up with reasons to blame everyone.
I would like to set the record straight by saying that we are working with provincial partners in both Ontario and Quebec on this very important issue. We have invited provincial ministers, police forces, the manufacturing industry and insurance companies to meet with us next week. I myself had an excellent meeting with the Conservative Premier of Ontario, and we are going to do even more to tackle this problem.
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- Feb/1/24 2:23:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, lots of meetings, lots of photo ops, lots of spending and lots of car theft, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the car theft crime, which is up 300% in Toronto and 100% in Montreal. This is a federal problem. It is his mismanagement of federal ports that allows our cars to be stolen and sent abroad. His quick release of criminals on catch-and-release who steal our cars is a federal matter and it is mismanagement of our federal police force, which is responsible for organized crime.
Will the Prime Minister reverse his failures, so we can stop the car theft?
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- Feb/1/24 2:23:46 p.m.
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Again, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition forgets one important thing that this government did in collaboration with the provinces from coast to coast. We strengthened bail conditions to ensure that precisely the circumstance that my hon. friend continues to repeat, inaccurately, is not the case.
I was very pleased that Premier Ford thanked our government at the event yesterday for working with them constructively to put these auto thieves behind bars and do everything we can to bring an end to this unacceptable practice.
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- Feb/1/24 2:24:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. The Liberals brought in catch-and-release bail. They reversed part of it, but guess where catch-and-release remains in place, even after their most recent bill, car theft. Therefore, car thieves can still get catch-and-release, same day bail because of the Prime Minister's amendment to the federal Criminal Code.
Ports are federal; he mismanaged them. The RCMP is federal; he mismanaged that. The Criminal Code is federal; he brought in catch-and-release. Will he not own up to his failures and reverse these decisions so we can keep our cars?
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- Feb/1/24 2:25:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when the Minister of Public Safety and I were with the Premier of Ontario, we announced $121 million of funding to help with attacking crime in places like Ontario. That will help to stop this flow of what we see in terms of auto theft.
The other thing we heard from the premier, and what we have heard from the law enforcement officials who were there, is that if we want to tackle this we have to tackle organized crime. Interestingly, the Leader of the Opposition is directing his caucus to vote against anti-money laundering initiatives that are contained in the fall economic statement to address exactly that.
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- Feb/1/24 2:25:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has accomplished something only he could do. Our central bank, which can create cash, is actually losing money. How did this happen? He forced the central bank to create $600 billion in cash to fund his overspending over the last three years. To pay for it, the bank makes deposits into the accounts of large financial institutions. Interest rates on those deposits, of course, have gone through the roof, meaning that taxpayers are now forced to bail out those losses.
Will he admit that his incompetence now forces Canadians to pay twice: once for the inflation the money printing caused and twice to bail out the bank, which is failing?
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- Feb/1/24 2:26:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the Leader of the Opposition is aware, but Canada has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio and the lowest deficit in the G7. What we do on this side of the House is maintain prudent fiscal responsibility, while investing in Canadians, especially vulnerable Canadians.
Let us look at the Canada child benefit, let us look at $10-a-day child care and let us look at the Canada dental benefit. On this side of the House, we actually have compassion for Canada.
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- Feb/1/24 2:27:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the CMHC report confirms that the housing crisis is worse than ever. The vacancy rate is the lowest it has been in 20 years. Rents are up 8%, and finding a new home in Quebec is 17% more expensive.
Why is this happening? It is because the population is growing too quickly. To be clear, immigrants are not responsible for the housing crisis. The Liberals are to blame, thanks to their out-of-touch immigration policy. They got everyone into trouble, starting with immigrants.
Will they amend their immigration policy and bring it in line with our integration capacity?
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- Feb/1/24 2:27:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is interesting. The Bloc does not want to blame immigrants, yet they are telling us to amend our plans.
I would like to ask the Bloc members from rural ridings to go and visit the farmers in their ridings to see where they are finding workers. Would they want to reduce the number of temporary workers?
The Bloc members need to answer the question, because it is a very important one that needs an answer.
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- Feb/1/24 2:28:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a shortfall of 3.5 million housing units according to the CMHC. Meanwhile, the Liberals are increasing immigration levels again in 2024 and 2025. They refuse to spread out asylum seekers among the provinces to alleviate the burden on Quebec. As a result, a heartbroken asylum seeker anonymously told the Journal de Montréal, “I'm scared because I am with my daughter. She is only nine. I do not want to end up on the street.”
When will the Liberals realize that their irresponsible policy is affecting real people?
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- Feb/1/24 2:28:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is true that this affects real people. People should not be treated like cattle. They need to be treated with respect and compassion. It is true that we are making efforts to send asylum seekers to other provinces when they request it, but people need to be treated with respect.
That is why I announced yesterday more than $300 million to house asylum seekers. Canada is not exempt from the historic influx facing the west.
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- Feb/1/24 2:29:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers never get a break when it comes to buying groceries. Metro's CEO, Eric La Flèche, is telling people to brace themselves because, starting today, eating is going get even more expensive.
What is the Minister of Industry doing? He tells us to keep an eye on the flyers. Then he tells us that he wants to stabilize prices that are already too high. Now he wants another inquiry. That is classic Liberal dithering. We know what the problem is. People are getting pummelled at the cash.
When will this government stand up for people instead of millionaire bosses?
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- Feb/1/24 2:30:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every day, we are going to do our work to make life more affordable for Canadians, including addressing the issue of food prices in our country.
Of course, members will recall the introduction of the grocery rebate recently, but we are also putting forward new measures to strengthen our competition laws and are launching recruitment efforts to bring more international grocery chains into Canada, which will create competition in the market place, creating better prices for families.
We are going to continue to do what we can to help people who are struggling, including implementing reforms that will help address the cost of food.
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- Feb/1/24 2:30:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Manulife just cut a deal with Galen Weston that forces Canadians to fill their prescriptions at Loblaws. This robs patients of their choice of pharmacist and hurts local community pharmacies. Experts say that this will restrict Canadians' access to over 250 medications. This is not only anti-competitive, but once again shows Liberals putting corporate greed ahead of people's health, while the Conservatives say nothing.
Will the government protect patients and block this corporate collusion, as Quebec has done?
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