44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 9, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/9/24 11:24:34 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that answer proves just how out of touch and asleep at the switch this government is.
It needs to get out of the way so municipalities can build affordable housing, just as Victoriaville, Saguenay and Trois-Rivières have done. The community organization Le Bercail has also had to close its shelter in a neighbouring riding because of the lack of housing and resources. As a result, this community is facing a surge in homelessness.
When will the government help our rural communities build affordable housing?
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- Feb/9/24 11:25:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives want to talk about housing, but they would not even be able to build a bird house.
They come to Quebec to yell at our mayors and insult them, whether in Montreal, Quebec City or elsewhere. Meanwhile, we have signed an historic agreement with Quebec where each stakeholder is putting in $900 million. That is $1.8 billion to accelerate construction and eliminate red tape, and not just in Montreal, Quebec City or Trois-Rivières, but throughout Quebec.
That is collaboration.
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Mr. Speaker, the media crisis has once again swept away a part of our news media and a part of our democracy.
Bell is laying off 4,800 employees. This comes on the heels of more than 500 job cuts at Quebecor and 600 at CBC/Radio-Canada. The entire industry has been imploding for years with no meaningful response by the federal government.
Bill C‑11 is having no apparent impact because the CRTC is making zero progress on the regulatory framework. Bill C‑18 is all well and good, and we will happily accept Google's millions, but the job cuts continue.
When is the government going to take action?
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- Feb/9/24 11:26:21 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my Bloc Québécois colleague that we have been taking action since we came to power in 2015, with the full co-operation of the Bloc Québécois on a host of files.
Earlier on, she mentioned the Broadcasting Act, which we struggled to pass for three years while the Conservatives opposed it at every turn. The same can be said of the Online News Act. The Conservatives filibuster endlessly while we try to help the media.
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- Feb/9/24 11:26:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Ottawa needs to do something while there are still jobs to be saved.
An emergency fund is needed to prevent further cuts. A payroll tax credit is needed for electronic media. A tax credit is needed for advertisers in traditional media. What is needed is an increase in federal advertising investments in traditional media along with a decrease in Liberal investments in Meta.
What we need most of all is a minister who takes action instead of just blaming the Conservatives. When will she take action?
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- Feb/9/24 11:27:29 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my colleague that we have taken action.
All of our hard work paid off and led to the modernization of the Broadcasting Act. I would also remind the House that no one thought we would successfully reach an agreement with Google when we went after the web giant for $100 million, plus interest, plus inflation every year. We introduced tax credits to support newsrooms and funding for local journalism.
There comes a point when we can no longer continue to line the pockets of Bell's billionaire companies, as the Conservatives would have us do, but we can continue to support journalism.
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- Feb/9/24 11:28:07 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in Newfoundland and Labrador, the Liberals have let the housing crisis get so bad that the province is forced to buy up hotels to house people who live in tents. The government's inaction has made provinces resort to desperate, improvised measures. Canadians deserve to live in dignity in safe, secure, affordable homes they can call their own, not in tents in the coldest climate on Earth.
When will the government start stepping up to provide solutions to the St. John's housing crisis so people do not have to live in tents anymore?
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- Feb/9/24 11:28:43 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, everyone in this country has a right to housing, and it is unacceptable that any Canadians are sleeping out in the cold.
That is why we have doubled funding to help communities tackle homelessness. We recently announced $100 million to help protect the most vulnerable 85 communities across the country. Our investments throughout our time in government are paying off. We have prevented over 125,000 people from becoming unhoused, and have placed over 71,000 people experiencing homelessness in permanent housing.
We are ready to work with parties that are serious about housing. There is a lot more work to do; we are up to the task.
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- Feb/9/24 11:29:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people in Nanaimo—Ladysmith are relying on food banks now more than ever before.
What is the Liberal and Conservative corporate coalition doing? It is pointing fingers at one another over who has the most grocery lobbyists in their back pocket. To make matters worse, the Liberals voted against an NDP bill that would lower food prices and crack down on out-of-control corporate greed.
Why are the Liberals working for large grocery CEOs instead of doing what is right for people?
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- Feb/9/24 11:29:58 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am a bit confused by the question because, in fact, we are the ones pushing the grocery industry to do more for Canadians, and I welcome the help of the NDP. Not only did we do that in our last reform of the competition legislation but we also included amendments proposed by the NDP.
We want to do more. We, as well as all the experts, understand that the best way to have more options, to stabilize prices and to make sure we have a more competitive environment is to reform our competition law. That is exactly what we are doing, and we thank the NDP for its help.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, farmers across the country are struggling under the punishing carbon tax.
Melissa, a farmer in my area, paid over $6,000 in carbon taxes just to dry her grain last year, and now the Prime Minister wants to quadruple the tax in just a few years. He is not worth the cost.
When will the Liberal government get out of the way and pass Bill C-234 in its original form, get off farmers' backs and make our food affordable again?
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- Feb/9/24 11:31:13 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the bill were so important, I would let my hon. colleague know that five Conservative senators were missing in action when it came down to the important vote.
On this side of the House, we believe in climate change. I have yet to hear one single platform or policy related to climate change from the member's party. In 2021, 20% of grains did not make it to market, because of climate change.
We have a plan to fight climate change and we have a plan to support farmers.
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Mr. Speaker, that is rich coming from the government that relentlessly lobbied senators to block Bill C-234. Bill C-234 would remove the carbon taxes from the farmers who grow our food. We know inflation is hitting Canadians hard; whether it is housing, the cost of fuel or food, everything is getting more expensive under the NDP-Liberal government. After eight years, Canadians know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
The only way Canadians will get the tax relief they deserve is by electing a common-sense Conservative government.
When will the Liberals call the election so we can axe the tax?
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- Feb/9/24 11:32:27 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the truth comes out: They want to go into an election. Nobody, no Canadian, wants to go into an election right now.
Again, our support for farmers has been consistent. We support our supply-managed sector. We support our farmers to help transition toward a greener economy. That is why we have invested $1.5 billion that will help farmers directly on the land by ensuring they can have some technology for farming.
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Mr. Speaker, the biggest petition in Canadian history proves that person wrong. Ray Orb of the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities has indicated that our farmers can expect to lose 8% of their total net income if the carbon tax is quadrupled this spring. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost to our growers, our truckers and everyone who is struggling to put healthy food on the table of their family.
Will the Prime Minister choose a death knell, alienating Canadians even further, or will he grab a lifeline and support Bill C-234?
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- Feb/9/24 11:33:37 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is absurd to be lectured by the Conservative Party on our support for farmers, when just last month we saw its members vote against the on-farm climate fund, the dairy innovation and investment fund, and funding in support of dairy, poultry and egg supply-managed producers.
The Conservatives take farmers for granted. They stand up in the House saying that climate policy is affecting food prices, when they know that is not true because their own food professor comes to committee to say that exact thing: climate policy is not a main driver of food prices. What is? Climate change is, but they never talk about it. They will not provide any solutions for climate change; it is a red herring for the Conservative Party.
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- Feb/9/24 11:34:15 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our farmers are tired of the government's talking out of both sides of its mouth. The Prime Minister is demanding that our farmers absorb a quadrupling of the carbon tax and GST yet grow enough grain to stay solvent, feed the world and increase green fuel alternatives. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, farmers know where they stand.
Is he even aware of how many Canadians have had enough of his attacks on farmers? He is not worth the cost.
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- Feb/9/24 11:34:52 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, farmers are the first to be impacted by climate change, and we need to support them and their transition to greener fuels, as the member said. However, we have already done many of those things by exempting gas and diesel for farm use from pollution pricing. We have created a rural top-up for rebates, and we have returned over $120 million to farmers just in 2023 thanks to carbon pricing proceeds.
Today is the warmest January day on record, and last year was the warmest year on record. Wheat yields are down. Climate change is having an impact through droughts and floods. There is a variety of ways that climate change is affecting food prices, but we will never hear that from the Conservative Party of Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are determined to increase the price of food, with the environment minister making it his personal mission to kill Bill C-234. He admitted to lobbying six senators to gut the bill, and he promised to reveal those names. After 49 days, he gave the names of three, not six, senators. While I know the Liberals are not good at math, it is clear he provided misleading information, so this week I invited the Minister of Environment to our committee to explain himself, but the NDP-Liberal coalition shut it down because it does not want the truth.
Let me ask it here: Why is the environment minister going to such great lengths to hide the names of the senators he personally lobbied to gut Bill C-234?
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- Feb/9/24 11:36:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a little rich hearing this from the Conservative Party members, when Conservative senators sit in their caucus and one of those senators was accused of bullying to the point where independent senators were afraid to go home at night. Shame on the Conservative Party for bullying those senators. It is absolutely shameful that any member of government should fear for their safety as a result of that party.
I will say it again: Carbon pricing is not to blame for Canada's affordability challenges. We are serious about helping Canadians afford their grocery bills. Fighting climate change policy is not the way.
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