44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 7, 2024 02:00PM
- Feb/7/24 2:57:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I know the member for Kitchener—Conestoga is passionate about ensuring that seniors and kids get access to dental care. I am happy to announce that in the first few weeks, over 600,000 seniors have successfully signed up for the Canadian dental care plan.
While the Conservative Party voted against funding dental care for those who need it most, we want to reassure Canadian seniors that on this side of the House we will always have their backs. We will fight for them, and we will make sure that the leader opposite never cuts essential supports to seniors.
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- Feb/7/24 2:58:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled since he promised to lower it. Now, we have a brand new phenomenon: the middle-class homeless. In fact, according to the executive director of the Royal Canadian Legion of Nova Scotia, members of the Canadian Forces are now forced to live in tents and cars and to couch surf. There are 30 homeless encampments in Halifax after eight years of the Prime Minister.
Why would the Prime Minister then plan to go ahead with a $450-a-year rent increase for our armed forces members, who are already forced to live in tents?
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- Feb/7/24 2:58:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, military members and their families are a priority, and we are taking steps to ensure that they are supported. We are investing $445 million over the coming years to tackle the supply of military housing.
When the Conservatives had an opportunity to support our military personnel, they chose not to. The Conservatives stood up in this House and voted against supporting our men and women in uniform just last December.
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- Feb/7/24 2:59:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is an outrageous non-response to the men and women who put their lives on the line for this country. He rewards them with a tent, or a couch in someone else's basement to sleep on.
After eight years of this Prime Minister, there has been a 177% increase in Bagotville and a 261% increase in the wait line for military housing. Now, he plans a $450 rent increase on the people who protect our country.
Should he not be ashamed of himself?
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- Feb/7/24 2:59:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, who nickel-and-dimed our military service members and veterans through nine years of their time in office, and even dropped military funding to below 1% of GDP.
We will continue to step up, including with $445 million for military housing in the coming years, as we continue to honour and support the women and men who serve our country with their lives.
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- Feb/7/24 3:00:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, who honours them with a tent to live in? He honours them with a $450 increase in their rent. Before the Prime Minister, we did not have masses of military members living in tent cities. They could put a roof overhead.
In fact, we did not have 30 tent cities in Halifax. We did not have two million people lined up at food banks in lines that are reminiscent of the Great Depression. We did not have young people forced to wait until age 40 to get a home.
The good news is life was not like this before the Prime Minister and it will not be like this after he is gone.
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- Feb/7/24 3:01:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, why does he not just say it straight out? He is planning to make Canada great again.
The reality is that Canada is great. Canada is the best country in the world. Yes, there are challenges and that is why we are stepping up to invest. Whether it is with $445 million for military housing, dental care for vulnerable seniors and youth, cutting child care fees in half or continuing to step up for vulnerable youth, we are going to be there for Canadians, while he proposes cuts to services, cuts to programs and cuts to the supports that Canadians need.
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- Feb/7/24 3:01:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is what the Prime Minister has to say to the two million people lined up around street corners, clamouring for the food bank, after eight years: that things are just going great.
To the people in Montreal who have seen their rent quadruple after his eight years, life is just great for them too. To the Torontonians who have to spend 25 years now saving up for a down payment on an average home, he says things are just great.
How can he possibly fix the misery he caused if he cannot even realize it is right in front of his face?
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- Feb/7/24 3:02:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition may not think that Canada is the best country in the world, but we do. The reality is that we recognize Canadians are struggling right now and that is why we continue to invest in supports for them.
Whether it is cutting child care fees in half, investing in the kinds of jobs and careers we are going to need in the number one battery supply chain country in the world, drawing in significant investments right across the country, or moving forward into a brighter economic future, we recognize that Canadians need support now.
He offers fear and cuts, while we offer support and a brighter future. That is what we are going to—
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- Feb/7/24 3:03:04 p.m.
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The hon. member for Lac-Saint-Jean.
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- Feb/7/24 3:03:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government still owes Quebeckers $470 million for taking in asylum seekers, who are actually Ottawa's responsibility. The funding announced for housing future asylum seekers is good, but it will not cover the federal government's debt, which has been accumulating since 2021. Every time we raise the issue, the Minister of Immigration ratchets up the rhetoric and insults.
Today, we are appealing to the Prime Minister because this is too important. I would invite Ottawa to take the high road. It is essential if we want to continue offering services to asylum seekers.
Will the Prime Minister finally repay the debt he owes Quebeckers?
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- Feb/7/24 3:03:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have often said in the House, Quebeckers have shown tremendous generosity and commitment to the vulnerable people who come to Canada. We are grateful for that, and we are here to help and to invest in Quebec to make it possible to welcome these people.
We recognize that this has created additional costs not only for the Quebec government, but also for social services and community organizations. That is why we are working with Quebec on an ongoing basis to make sure that we recognize its sacrifices and efforts, and to make sure that we thank and reward it for that.
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- Feb/7/24 3:04:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister must also ensure that there are not too many asylum seekers entering the country at the same place. Quebec has exceeded its intake capacity. There are 289,000 asylum seekers in Canada, and Quebec has shown that it has taken in 160,000, or 55% of the total number.
Quebec's immigration minister even announced yesterday that she is considering holding a referendum on the repatriation of all immigration powers because she is so frustrated with the federal government's inaction.
Does the Prime Minister understand that when people start talking about a referendum, it might be time for him to wake up?
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- Feb/7/24 3:05:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for many years, Quebec grappled with the challenge of Roxham Road. We worked with the Quebec and United States governments. We fixed that problem.
Now there is a new issue at airports, but we will be there to help the Government of Quebec and Quebeckers deal with the situation. We will always work together. The Bloc Québécois is the only one looking to pick fights and hold referendums.
We will always be there to work hand in hand and respectfully with the Government of Quebec.
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- Feb/7/24 3:05:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of food after eight years of the NDP-Liberal carbon tax. It has caused food prices to rise 20% in the last two years alone. So much for the affordable food they promised when they signed their coalition with the NDP leader. So much so that the Kanata food bank is now forced to cut in half the number of potatoes it is giving out. They are too expensive and there is too much demand.
Instead of just telling those people who are eating half as much in Kanata that things are great, why will he not follow our common-sense plan to axe the tax?
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- Feb/7/24 3:06:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member for Regina—Lewvan recognized yesterday, there is absolutely no data to support any link between our price on pollution and higher grocery prices. There simply is none.
On this side of the House, we are a government anchored in evidence and data, and we will continue to be there to deliver things like the grocery rebate to Canadians to put more money back in Canadians' pockets, even as we put a price on pollution with the carbon price rebate. We will continue to defend Canadians' interests against the cuts proposed by that Conservative.
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- Feb/7/24 3:07:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he wants to know the link between the carbon tax and the food price. Well, I will help him out. Farmers use something called diesel. It goes in their tractors, combines and drying machines. It goes in their on-farm fuels that pay the carbon tax, and he wants to quadruple the tax. Then the truckers who pick up the food and transport it to the grocery store pay the carbon tax. Then the grocer pays the carbon tax to power the heat in that big Olympic stadium-sized chamber we call a grocery store.
If he does not get the link, how is he ever going to fix the problem?
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- Feb/7/24 3:07:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the problem with the story the Leader of the Opposition just told is there is absolutely no data to support it. He is all about political attacks. He is all about inventing reasons to not take action on the fight against climate change, because his Conservative Party still does not understand that one cannot have a plan for Canadians' future or the future of the economy if one does not have a plan to fight climate change. Not only are we fighting climate change, we are putting more money back in the pockets of Canadians and building the economy of the future.
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- Feb/7/24 3:08:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of no evidence, we actually filed an Order Paper question asking for proof that his carbon tax is reducing emissions, and it came back that there was no evidence. After eight years in government, after years of raising the tax, they have no proof it reduces emissions at all.
However, we know it increases food prices, and this is why Canada's food professor said, “I am recommending a pause on the carbon tax for the entire food industry from farm gate to stores and restaurants.”
If the Prime Minister does not have the common sense to axe the tax, will he listen to the food professor and cancel his plan to hike it?
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- Feb/7/24 3:09:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is actually reducing its emissions faster than our G7 partners largely because we put a price on pollution.
The Leader of the Opposition wants to make pollution free again. We do not think that is the right path for Canada. We know that investing in reduction of carbon emissions while putting more money back in Canadians' pockets, switching from home heating oil to heat pumps, moving forward in responsible ways as we are investing in supporting Canadians is the way to build a stronger future, but he proposes ideology, cuts and fear tactics.
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