44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 15, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/15/24 2:41:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is correct to point to the important work of parliamentary committees, which are called to do valuable work to support that of the government in making sure that even in times of crisis, like the pandemic, proper rules are followed, known and monitored by all public servants, including those at the CBSA.
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- Feb/15/24 2:42:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what a completely insincere answer. It is a fraud on Canadians.
Since the Prime Minister took office, over $250 million has been given to GC Strategies, two guys working in their basement, $20 million alone for the arrive scam. Criminality is rampant with evidence the committee has recently heard.
The arrive scam is just like the Prime Minister, not worth the cost, not worth the corruption. Fleeced taxpayers want an honest answer.
Will the Prime Minister finally call on the RCMP to expand the investigation? Yes or no.
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- Feb/15/24 2:42:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member pointed out, again, correctly, the importance of investigations.
The good news is that there was an investigation by the Auditor General just a few weeks and months ago. There was an important report tabled on Monday with findings that are totally unacceptable, even in the context of the worst pandemic that we have seen in over a century, the worst economic crisis that we have seen since the 1930s.
The findings are unacceptable, and that is why we are going to keep implementing all the recommendations in the Auditor General's report.
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- Feb/15/24 2:43:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this government is not worth the cost or the corruption. It awarded the ArriveCAN contract to GC Strategies, a four-employee company that does not even do IT work, for an app that was supposed to cost $80,000 but, according to the Auditor General, may have cost more than $60 million, or 750 times as much. That is what I call gross incompetence.
Politically, who is going to take responsibility for this incompetence? Will we ever get back the money lost due to this incompetence?
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- Feb/15/24 2:44:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned the word responsibility. In times of crisis, a responsible government has two responsibilities. First, it must protect people's health and ensure their safety. That included the lives of tens of thousands of Quebeckers and Canadians during the pandemic. Second, it must ensure that transportation, in this case within Canada as well as across-the-border transportation, goes smoothly so that medication and personal protective equipment get through, and so that international trade, worth billions of dollars every week, can continue flowing in an efficient and useful manner.
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- Feb/15/24 2:45:01 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, when the Minister of Environment and Climate Change said the government would stop investing in new road infrastructure, he made it very clear that he never considered northern communities.
Many indigenous communities still lack all-weather roads. In fact, most of the communities in my riding are still using dust roads. For years, they have been calling on the government to invest in road infrastructure.
I have a simple question. Why is the minister against Nunavut getting their roads paved?
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- Feb/15/24 2:45:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I thank the member for what she brings to the House. I know her advocacy on a range of issues matters and does make a difference.
On this side, Liberal MPs, since 2015, have ensured that this government invests in infrastructure and invests in roads and highways. I will give examples of northern infrastructure investments. We are talking about $10.5 million for the Inuvik Tuktoyaktuk Highway rehabilitation in Northwest Territories, $10.5 million for active transportation projects in Whitehorse and Watson Lake in Yukon, and projects in Nunavut as well.
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- Feb/15/24 2:46:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Environment's recent comments that the Liberals have stopped investing in new road infrastructure and that the current system is perfectly adequate to respond to Canadians' needs is anti-northern and anti-indigenous. It is a death knell to isolated communities like Wasagamack, St. Theresa Point and others that have been forced to call states of emergency because climate change has made their ice roads unreliable. Other Liberals have been actively engaged in finding solutions on this front.
Will the Minister of Environment retract his comments, work with his colleagues and first nations to build the all-weather road access they desperately need?
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- Feb/15/24 2:47:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that infrastructure investment is absolutely vital to economic growth. As part of our infrastructure policy, we are talking about almost 400 road and highway projects that have been invested in at the federal level. That is just one example of a fund that is at work. I have mentioned already northern examples.
Let me give the example, of course, of the Gordie Howe Bridge, which that side, the Conservatives, opposed. There were $6 billion for Gordie Howe Bridge, and $153 million to enhance the Trans-Canada Highway in Newfoundland to make sure there are improvements there, the twinning of the highway to be specific, and we will continue.
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- Feb/15/24 2:47:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for 70 years, since 1954, the Carnaval de Québec has been delighting thousands of people in the Quebec City region, from throughout Quebec and around the world. It is an opportunity for people of all ages to make new memories and experience a sense of wonder, from the kids who meet the living snowman for the first time and discover his majestic palace, to their grandparents who rediscover him through their eyes.
It is an event that makes winter more enjoyable, or at least more tolerable, not to mention that it provides major economic benefits.
Can the Minister of Tourism tell us what our government is doing to ensure the growth of the Carnaval de Québec?
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- Feb/15/24 2:48:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like the member for Louis-Hébert, our government understands that the economic benefits from the Carnaval de Québec contribute directly to business growth in the region. Unlike the Conservatives, who want to cut programs that fund festivals and refuse to take action against climate change, we are investing $8 million for the tourism experience of the carnival and we are fighting climate change.
On this side of the House, we want to ensure that the ice castle does not melt and that the Bonhomme Carnaval does not lose his job.
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- Feb/15/24 2:48:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's radical environment minister is launching a war on cars. He said that his government had decided to stop investing in new road infrastructure. The radical minister did not clarify his remarks. Rather, he went even further, adding that those Liberals planned to block big projects, for example, the Highway 6 south expansion, which is so critical to the safety of people in my community.
Why are those Liberals attacking commuters in the GTHA, who are just trying to get to work?
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- Feb/15/24 2:49:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich to continue to hear the Conservatives talk about road infrastructure in particular, but infrastructure in general, which they continued to cut in their time in office and would do the same if they were back in power.
In the GTA, and I will give examples, there are $2.3 billion to build the Scarborough subway extension; $1.9 billion to build the Eglinton cross-town west extension; over $2 billion to build the Yonge north subway extension; $4 billion to build the Ontario Line; and there are other examples from the GTA.
I thank the Liberal members of this caucus for advocating for all of this.
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- Feb/15/24 2:50:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the previous Conservative government invested significantly in roads and highways in the GTA, Ontario and Canada, so that non-answer does not cut it.
Canadians already pay plenty of taxes, sending their money to Ottawa and expecting the government to build roads and infrastructure, yet the Prime Minister and his radical minister would endanger the lives of Hamiltonians by not supporting projects like the Highway 6 south expansion.
Will the Prime Minister stand up for Canadians and reject his radical environment minister?
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- Feb/15/24 2:50:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are almost 3,000 road and bridge projects in Ontario. That is just one example.
I remember when, in this House of Commons, the government moved forward on talking with Windsor and engaging with Governor Rick Snyder in the state of Michigan. This was done years ago to make sure the Gordie Howe bridge would be a reality, and they were against it. We have put in $6 billion to make sure it is a reality. It is happening, and this government stands by that decision. The Conservatives have let down the people of Windsor.
I thank the member for Windsor—Tecumseh for being there for his constituents.
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- Feb/15/24 2:51:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister appointed a radical activist to be the environment minister, we knew that the Liberal government would be implementing extreme and divisive policies, but this latest Liberal announcement takes the cake. This may be the first time that any government anywhere, at any time, has promised to stop building roads. However, that is exactly what the Liberals have done. This extreme new policy means that the Liberals are against adding more lanes to the Trans-Canada Highway between Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Why do the Liberals want to kill these projects, which will help end gridlock and get people to work?
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- Feb/15/24 2:52:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is very interesting. The member should have checked the record. It is stunning. As a B.C. MP, he voted against over $1 million for the 100 Mile House Horse Lake Road Bridge replacement in that province. It is an example of Conservative hypocrisy on the other side. On the one hand, they want to stand for infrastructure investment and support roads. On the other, any time the current government attempts to do that, they vote against it.
We will continue to work with provinces and municipalities to make that a reality.
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- Feb/15/24 2:52:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the radical minister made it very clear that the Liberal government will no longer allow funding to go toward building roads, and it is no surprise that a guy who scaled the CN Tower or climbed on top of a premier's roof would come up with an extreme policy such as building no more roads in this country. We need a strong road network to move our goods, to get our kids to school and to get our workers to their jobs.
When will the Prime Minister condemn this radical policy from his extremist environment minister and stop punishing Canadians, who need to drive their cars to live their lives?
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- Feb/15/24 2:53:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are more slogans from the other side. Why is it a slogan? It is because there is no sincerity, and there is no sincerity because Conservatives want to cut funding to cities. They want to cut funding to towns. Every time we put measures on the table to make sure that municipalities are better supported and provinces are there with us, they stand in the way of that.
I have given examples here today, such as the Gordie Howe bridge in my province. I just gave an example from his province. He has let down his constituents in the approach that he has taken. It is not a serious approach, and it never was.
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- Feb/15/24 2:54:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the proposed nuclear waste disposal site at Chalk River is an environmental travesty and a social injustice.
The Anishinabe communities that are affected by this project are opposed to it, and I am proud that the Bloc Québécois was able to help Chief Lance Haymond express that opposition yesterday. I am proud that we added our voice as representatives of 4.5 million concerned Quebeckers.
Will the government finally say no to the Chalk River project and ensure that any nuclear waste burial project does not unnecessarily threaten indigenous communities and the people of Quebec?
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