44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 13, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/13/24 2:46:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court's decision affirmed what we already know: Indigenous peoples have the right to make decisions about their own children, youth and families. The federal government must ensure that indigenous children receive the care they need without delay. Indigenous Services plans to sunset over $7 billion in programs, such as Jordan's principle and the Inuit child first initiative.
Will the minister commit to reversing her decision to make these cuts and invest in the programs indigenous children and youth need?
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- Feb/13/24 2:47:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for her accurate statement of the law. It was a big victory, not only for indigenous people but also for Canada, on Friday. Not only does the case say that indigenous self-determination is available for indigenous youth, but it also interweaves, like a braid, indigenous laws, UNDRIP and the notion of legislative reconciliation in this House. I think everyone in the House would be better served if they were able to read this case and reflect on it.
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- Feb/13/24 2:48:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last Sunday, the community of Carman, Manitoba, witnessed a tragedy when a mother, her three children and her niece were murdered, with her husband as the main suspect. This reminds us that we desperately need shelters and safe housing for women and families, as well as mental health supports to prevent femicide. However, the government has defunded women's shelters, while mental health needs continue to go unmet.
Will the minister increase support for shelters and mental health services to stop violence against women and children?
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- Feb/13/24 2:48:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the scale of the tragedy that took place is not lost on us, and we endeavour to continue to do our part to see that justice is done. However, it is important that, as we go forward, we continue to invest in the projects that are going to provide people with the safety and security of living in a home that prevents this kind of incident from happening.
Our programs provide support to shelters and transitional housing, particularly for women fleeing violence. We are going to look for additional opportunities and make the investments necessary to continue to build out the network of homes that will help prevent these kinds of tragedies in the future.
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- Feb/13/24 2:49:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, affordable day care is so important. It is essential to provide women with the freedom to choose whether they stay home to raise their kids or pursue their careers, in most cases, balancing both.
Women in my riding tell me they have trouble finding spots in day care. Can the Minister of Families update the House on exactly what discussions she has had with provinces to ensure the success of $10-a-day day care?
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- Feb/13/24 2:50:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Canada-wide system is making life more affordable for Canadian families by delivering on $10-a-day child care, now in seven provinces or territories, and 50% reduction across the country. As fees have reduced, of course, demand has increased for these spots. We have seen an increase in the number of spots available, with 82,000 new spaces announced by the provinces and territories. The provinces and territories signed on to help build this system together, and we will work with them to hold them to account to do so.
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- Feb/13/24 2:50:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister found over $60 million for his arrive scam app, but he continues to want to increase the carbon tax by 23% on April 1. Now, we have heard the far left NDP Alberta leadership candidate weigh in: “Nobody is on board with what [the Prime Minister] did with the federal carbon tax. He absolutely broke trust and broke confidence”.
After eight years of failure, how can he continue to raise the carbon tax on Canadians?
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- Feb/13/24 2:51:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer has reiterated many times, eight out of 10 Canadians get more back from carbon pricing than what they pay. Carbon pricing works. It helps to reduce pollution in Canada, something that the Conservative Party campaigned on during the 2021 election campaign. The difference between them and us is that, on this side of the House, we are serious about fighting climate change and working with Canadians to help them face affordability issues.
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- Feb/13/24 2:52:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have more. An Alberta leadership candidate said, “There's no way people can be on board with the federal plan when even the prime minister isn’t on board, when he’s playing games with it” and that the federal carbon levy is “dead”. Another candidate said we must move away from a consumer carbon tax.
When he loses the support of the far left Alberta NDP, the minister must know he has a problem. Will he cancel his carbon tax before April 1, once and for all?
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- Feb/13/24 2:52:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since we are talking about Alberta, I wonder if the Conservative Party of Canada and its leader support the freeze that the provincial government has put on 30 billion dollars' worth of investment. Thousands of jobs are at risk in Alberta because of the reckless decision of the premier to freeze renewable energy development, the fastest sector for energy development in this country.
What does the Conservative Party have to say about that? Conservatives say nothing, because they do not care about economic development. They do not care about fighting climate change, and they do not care about helping Canadians.
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- Feb/13/24 2:53:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wasted more than $60 million on his ArriveCAN scam app, and he is going to make Canadians pay more by quadrupling the carbon tax. It is going up 23% on April 1. After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, it is no surprise, but this Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
Why do Canadians have to foot the bill for the government's corrupt spending?
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- Feb/13/24 2:53:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, right now in Canada, we have a province, Alberta, that has to talk about rationing water next summer because of climate impacts. We have atmospheric rivers in British Columbia that are affecting thousands of people and ski resorts that have to close down. We are seeing the costs of climate change that have not doubled or tripled but increased by 10 times over the last decade.
What is the answer of the Conservative Party of Canada? It is to make pollution free again and let the biggest, most profitable and polluting countries off the hook.
Not on this side of the House, where we will fight—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Feb/13/24 2:54:28 p.m.
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Colleagues, it is important, once again, to remind ourselves that when we take the floor, we are expected to listen to the questions and the answers. I ask all members to please restrain themselves, to follow the leadership of their whips and respect members who have the floor.
The hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton.
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- Feb/13/24 2:54:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians have been forced to pay through the nose for everything after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government. Not only did the government give contractors $20 million for doing no work on the arrive scam app, but the Auditor General also said that the $80,000 app cost over $60 million of taxpayer money. Now the government is increasing the carbon tax on April 1.
Why should Canadians have to foot the bill for the government's corrupt overspending?
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- Feb/13/24 2:56:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the last election campaign, all of the colleagues on the other side of the House went around their neighbourhoods in Sarnia—Lambton and elsewhere, and around their ridings. They had nice glossy brochures with Mr. O'Toole on the cover. He had a nice black T-shirt on. What was in there? It was a price on pollution. All of these members went around their neighbourhoods committing to put a price on pollution as part of a plan to fight climate change. Why did we believe Conservatives then and why should we believe them now?
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- Feb/13/24 2:57:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are not going to get out from under the ArriveCAN scandal that quickly. For a simple application that was supposed to cost $80,000, the Liberals spent $60 million, $20 million of which was paid to GC Strategies, a company that ultimately did not provide any services.
Worse yet, the Auditor General reported that this scheme was done with the complicity of government employees. Yesterday, the three ministers involved passed the buck, but Quebeckers deserve to know who is responsible. When will there be accountability for ArriveCAN?
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- Feb/13/24 2:57:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our colleague for raising this issue. She has already heard the answer several times. We thank the Auditor General for her work and we recognize the significant problems she noted. We know that all of this occurred during a time of crisis. That is no excuse for the lack of information or the lack of record-keeping and sharing of that information. Fortunately, many of the recommendations she made have already been put in place.
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- Feb/13/24 2:58:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers do not understand how it is possible to overspend by 75,000% without a minister noticing. All the rules were broken, and a handful of people pocketed $60 million of taxpayers' money.
People try to pin everything on the pandemic, but it is not responsible for such utter incompetence with respect to basic project management rules. If the government could throw away $60 million just like that, how many more contracts is it turning a blind eye to?
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- Feb/13/24 2:58:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at the height of the pandemic, hundreds of people were dying of COVID‑19 and billions of dollars a week were at stake. We had to figure out how to move billions of dollars' worth of goods back and forth across the border. We had to move essential medical drugs, food, and equipment that was crucial to businesses in Quebec and Canada. We had to act fast.
Nevertheless, the lack of information, lack of information gathering and lack of rigour on the part of some public service employees are completely unacceptable.
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Mr. Speaker, I wonder why the Prime Minister's priority is higher taxes and not food affordability. He can find $60 million for his ArriveCAN app, but he needs to quadruple the carbon tax on farmers and food. We are hearing the plea from Canadian families who want to axe the tax to make food affordable. I was in Sudbury this week meeting with organizers of food banks that are at a breaking point as demand has doubled and is rising. There is a common-sense Conservative bill, Bill C-234, which would give a carbon tax carve-out for farmers and lower the price of food. This Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Will he cancel his plans to increase the carbon tax on April 1 so Canadians can feed themselves?
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