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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 277

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 7, 2024 02:00PM
  • Feb/7/24 2:24:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was the Conservative member for Dufferin—Caledon who described our ambitious approach to housing best when he said that our Minister of Housing seems to come out every day with a new program, a new announcement or a new cheque for Canadians. He is right. We have worked hard week after week to conclude new agreements under the housing accelerator fund and to provide new tools to accelerate the construction of affordable housing. While the Conservative leader insults the municipalities, we remain focused on our goal to accelerate housing construction.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:25:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Conservative leader is offering is insults and more insults aimed at elected officials from Quebec. He described the home of a family in Niagara as a shack. He is using the homeless as accessories for political photo ops. The reality is that a responsible leader will take action to invest in communities and housing. That is what we are doing by eliminating the GST on the construction of new apartments and by making funding announcements, including $900 million for Quebec to invest in housing. We are here to invest and build. He is here to hurl insults.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:26:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he talks about bureaucracy, but, on the contrary, we are investing in municipalities to reduce red tape and speed up housing construction. We have made about 30 housing accelerator announcements across the country to build more housing faster, providing for greater density, better zoning, faster approval to use vacant land and more affordable homes. We are there to make real investments, while he would rather insult people.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:28:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our housing ambition can be best summed up by the Conservative member for Dufferin—Caledon who said that it seems that every day our Minister of Housing has a new program, a new announcement or a new cheque for Canadians. That is exactly right. We continue to work hand in hand with Canadians and with municipalities across the country, municipalities he would rather insult, to get more homes built faster. The investments we are making, including things like taking the GST off purpose-built rental housing, which the Conservatives voted against, will continue to create more homes for Canadians right across the country.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:29:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just last week I was in Kitchener–Waterloo making an announcement for the housing accelerator program for Waterloo. What the Leader of the Opposition seems to have missed is that we were standing in a freshly completed building for seniors. In fact, $33 million of funding from the federal government a few years ago allowed that building to be built today. We are building things today that people are moving into in the coming weeks. We are announcing how we are building things for tomorrow, while he just chooses to insult Canadians, insult mayors and insult our intelligence.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:30:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we could not agree more that a Conservative government would pose a threat to fundamental rights and freedoms. At the same time, when it comes to medical assistance in dying, we understand how difficult and personal a choice this is. We have a duty to protect the most vulnerable while respecting fundamental rights and freedoms. That is why, with regard to advance requests for people with mental health issues and for minors, we have been holding and will continue to hold in-depth discussions and consultations before going any further.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:32:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out, the issue of advance requests was raised a number of years ago and has been identified as one of the important but difficult discussions we need to have as a society. Could someone make an advance request to receive medical assistance in dying if their condition reaches a certain point, even if they are unable to consent to it? This is a difficult and important issue. I welcome Quebec's debates on the issue. We are going to pursue our discussions on that.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:33:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, right now, with the fall economic statement, we are proposing significant measures to increase competition in the grocery sector. Many of them are ideas that we are in alignment with the leader of the NDP on. We believe in moving forward with greater competition in the grocery sector. That is something the NDP and the Liberals agree on. It is not something Conservatives agree on; their chief strategist is actually on the Loblaws' payroll. They choose to promote disinformation and misinformation while defending big grocers. On this side of the House, we will stand up for Canadians.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:34:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I welcome the NDP's efforts to increase competition in the grocery sector, because we really believe in that. We have included measures in our legislation that correspond to the measures proposed by the NDP. We absolutely believe in increasing competition in the grocery sector. That is something the NDP and the Liberals agree on. The Conservatives would rather listen to their lobbyist buddy who works for Loblaw and defend the interests of major grocery retailers, instead of fighting on behalf of Canadians to bring down grocery prices.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:36:07 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-5 
Mr. Speaker, organized crime is responsible for the rise in auto theft across the country. The Conservative Party's attacks on Bill C-5 and Bill C-75 are simply not the solution or the way to solve this problem. We will continue to invest in the fight against auto theft with, for example, $121 million for the Government of Ontario. We will continue to work with the CBSA to increase its staff. We are there to do our part.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:37:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this would perhaps be a little more credible from the Conservative Party if it had not cut 1,000 CBSA officers when it was last in government. Conservatives proposed to cut 400 more, if they had the 2015 election. The reality is that we restored every single border officer they cut and added 800 more. We are continuing to do the necessary work. We recovered 1,800 stolen vehicles last year. We will continue to do—
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  • Feb/7/24 2:38:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while Conservatives cut frontline border services officers, along with cuts to the RCMP and cuts to police forces across the country, we invested in them. We are going to continue to do that, with $121 million for Ontario and more investments for port and border security. We are going to continue to step up and keep Canadians safe.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:39:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but smile when the Leader of the Opposition talks about high-priced consultants, because his campaign is being run by a high-priced consultant for Loblaws. When he stands in this place and across the country, wrenching his heartstrings about the prices that Canadians are paying for groceries, his top adviser is in the pocket of Loblaws, giving him the same talking points as she gave Galen Weston when he appeared at a parliamentary committee. If Canadians are going to believe the Leader of the Opposition, he needs to come clean with who is funding his organizations.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:41:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we can tell it is Wednesday because, this morning, the members of the Conservative caucus got to hear directly from Jenni Byrne, who sits in their caucus with them, giving them advice. That is exactly where they are coming from, when she is actively on the Loblaws payroll while at the same time feeding lines to the Leader of the Opposition about food prices and concocting a theory around carbon pricing and grocery prices that, as the member for Regina—Lewvan pointed out yesterday, has no basis in fact. We see the kind of torque he chooses to pull.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:43:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is quite something to watch the flailing of the Conservatives right now as they do anything to try to distract from the fact that their campaign manager, the Leader of the Opposition's top adviser, still gets contributions and paycheques from Loblaws. This is an issue, when he has stood up and pretended to care about food prices. When we have heard the exact same talking points come out of Galen Weston's mouth as out of the Leader of the Opposition's mouth on some invented connection between the price on pollution and grocery prices, we know exactly who is behind the Conservative Party.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:45:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every country is in charge of its responsibilities in immigration. Canada is responsible for border management and immigration in Canada. Recognizing Quebec's unique status and the need to defend the French language and Quebec culture, Canada has long given Quebec specific powers that no other province has for the defence of Quebec. We will continue to work with Quebec on immigration.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:46:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we keep seeing how desperate the Bloc Québécois always is to pit Quebec and Canada against each other and look for excuses to hold a referendum. The reality is that, yes, we are working hand in hand with the Government of Quebec, and Ottawa and Quebec have been doing that for decades to ensure that the immigration numbers are appropriate for Quebec. We will continue to work respectfully, without fighting, despite what the Bloc Québécois wants.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:47:51 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-5 
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition likes to make base political accusations. He likes to talk about Bill C-5 and Bill C-75 as the reason there is auto theft in this country. The reality is that Bill C-5 is the bill that keeps mandatory minimum penalties for car theft on the books, and Bill C-75 is the bill that raises the maximum penalty on car theft. We have continued to step up in terms of keeping Canadians safe. We will continue to invest in the CBSA and in the resources necessary to counter these challenges. We will keep working based on facts and evidence.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:49:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the Leader of the Opposition's simplistic world view, someone sitting on their couch at home playing video games goes out and steals an Escalade. That is not what happens. Organized crime is directly involved in the massive spike in auto thefts in this country. That is why we are stepping up on investment in anti-organized crime; investments against money laundering, which that party voted against; and investment in more powers and more resources for Ontario to counter auto theft, as well as more resources for the CBSA that the Conservatives cut when they were last in office. We will continue to be there.
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  • Feb/7/24 2:50:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in all the questions the Leader of the Opposition asked about car theft, he has not once mentioned organized crime, which is the cause of car theft in this country right now. Perhaps he is not mentioning it because, when we brought forward measures to counter organized crime and money laundering, the Conservative Party voted against them. We moved forward with more resources for Ontario, $121 million, to counter organized crime and car theft, and the Conservative Party voted against. We will continue to anchor ourselves in facts and data and deliver on keeping Canadians safe.
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