44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2024 10:00AM
- Mar/21/24 2:57:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a year ago, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court criticized the government on its judicial appointment process. He said, and I quote, “The government's inertia regarding vacancies and the absence of satisfactory explanations for these delays are disconcerting.”
Since then, the Liberals have been dragging their feet. There were 85 vacancies; now there are 68. In February, the Federal Court ordered the government to take action. We learned on Monday that, instead of taking action, the Minister of Justice is fighting that ruling in court.
When will the minister take the justice system seriously and appoint the judges we need?
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- Mar/21/24 2:58:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first, I would like to congratulate all Ismaili Canadians celebrating Navroz today. Navroz Mubarak.
With respect to the question asked by the member opposite, I would point out that I have been in this post for seven months. I have already appointed 74 judges in seven months. The average number of appointments made by the Conservative government was about 60 each year. I am working twice as fast as the previous government. I will continue to do so.
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- Mar/21/24 2:58:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, doing nothing twice as fast still amounts to doing nothing.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and the Federal Court are telling the government that the number of vacancies is preventing our justice system from working properly. The Chief Justice of Canada wrote, and I quote, “Access to justice and the health of our democratic institutions are at risk”.
It is not just anyone who is saying that. It is the Chief Justice of Canada. Rather than speeding up the appointment process, the Minister of Justice is challenging the Federal Court's decision and looking for excuses for his inaction. Clogging up the courts with political partisanship is not going to solve the problem. Judges must be appointed.
What is the minister waiting for? Liberal applicants, perhaps?
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- Mar/21/24 2:59:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a rather important question. What I want to point out to all Canadians who are watching right now is that we have never had any former Liberal staffers sit on a committee that recommends judicial appointments. That is not the case in my own province of Ontario, for example.
We put measures in place to prevent partisanship, to appoint top-notch judges who reflect the diversity and bilingualism needed by judges, not just in Quebec, but across Canada.
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- Mar/21/24 3:00:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Beauce did not get an answer, so I will try again.
The Bloc Québécois is keeping this Prime Minister in power, even though he broke our immigration system, raised taxes and doubled our national debt. It is costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois. It is going to cost even more come April 1, because this Liberal-Bloc government is going to raise the tax by 23%. That is unacceptable.
What did the Prime Minister promise the Bloc Québécois in return for keeping this government in power?
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- Mar/21/24 3:00:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers watching at home just do not understand. This is not the first time they fail to understand the Conservative Party. What the member just said does not apply to Quebec. They are the party of inaction; that is what we are hearing today.
What Quebeckers want is action against climate change, action to grow the economy, action to promote green jobs.
While those members on the other side of the House want to vote for inaction, on our side, we are going to vote with Quebeckers to move Canada forward.
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- Mar/21/24 3:01:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague just talked about what Quebeckers understand. He did not understand my question. I will try a third time to get an answer from this government.
Food banks are overwhelmed, which is unprecedented in Canada. People who voted for the Bloc Québécois must be regretting it. That party is propping up the Liberals and keeping them in power. I would remind the House that this Liberal-Bloc government is going to impose an additional 23% tax on April 1, and that is no joke. It will be costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois.
Will the Prime Minister tell us about the secret deal he struck with the Bloc Québécois?
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- Mar/21/24 3:02:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not very nice of my colleague to chastise the Bloc Québécois like that. Bloc members are already having a hard time, especially today.
To come back to what my colleague said, it is another example of inaction. The minister said it so well. Theirs is the party of inaction. What is the result of inaction? It leads to forest fires, it leads to the displacement of people, it leads to flooding.
Where were they when this was happening in Quebec and across Canada? While they sit around, twiddling their thumbs, we are taking action.
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- Mar/21/24 3:03:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of that NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, food bank usage in Edson is up nearly 300%. Now, on April 1, those Liberals want to raise the carbon tax another 23%, making groceries, gas and heating more expensive for Canadians. They are on track to quadruple the carbon tax. The average family in Alberta will pay nearly $3,000 of carbon tax this year.
Will the Liberals finally allow a carbon tax election so that Albertans can decide to axe the tax?
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- Mar/21/24 3:03:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member of Parliament for Yellowhead is simply wrong. Albertans in rural Alberta, with the doubling of the rural top-up, will receive $2,160 in rebates in the upcoming year. That is more money, $700 more. It is $960 more if someone is in rural or remote Alberta.
I have one message for Albertans and for Canadians, and that is to stop the Conservatives and do not let them ruin the rebate.
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- Mar/21/24 3:04:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, tourism drives economic growth in communities across the country.
In 2022, tourism supported 1.9 million jobs in Canada. No other sector has such a massive economic impact in every region of the country. The federal tourism growth strategy highlights the opportunity we have here in Canada to attract more international events, such as conferences and conventions.
Can the Minister of Tourism tell us how the government is seizing the opportunity presented by business tourism?
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- Mar/21/24 3:04:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking my colleague from Lac-Saint-Louis because, like me and like our government, he believes that Canada is a destination of choice for international business events.
This week, we announced that Destination Canada will get $50 million to attract major events to convention centres across the country. Investing in such events, whether they take place in urban centres, such as Calgary, Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver, or in the regions, could generate more than $170 million for Canada's economy.
I look forward to seeing how the Conservatives vote tonight.
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- Mar/21/24 3:05:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, scandal runs rampant in the Liberal-NDP government. We all know about ArriveCAN and now we know about another $5 million in fraudulent billing. To make matters worse, the billing is across 36 departments and dates back to 2018, pre-pandemic. This is only the first wave of even more fraudulent billing cases. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
Could the minister answer one simple question: How many millions of dollars in fraudulent billing did arrive scam cost Canadians?
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- Mar/21/24 3:06:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member said, or did not say, that fraudulent billing is totally unacceptable. That is why it was so important that yesterday we released the information. Thanks to better data since the pandemic, and thanks to having a better ability to analyze and use that data, we are now able to proceed much more quickly and much more efficiently with identifying and prosecuting cases of fraudulent overbilling in Canada in 2024.
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- Mar/21/24 3:06:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on Tuesday morning, as I was reading my newspaper, I came across some disturbing news. The member for Brossard—Saint-Lambert, who is also the Assistant Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, invited the director of two organizations accused of hosting illegal, Beijing-controlled police stations in Brossard and Montreal to a partisan cocktail party last February 20. To make matters worse, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry was the guest of honour.
Does the Prime Minister accept his MP's defence of these organizations, which are being investigated by the RCMP for hosting Beijing-controlled police stations?
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- Mar/21/24 3:07:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as my colleague knows full well, our government is tackling foreign interference issues very effectively and robustly.
It is widely known that the RCMP has confirmed that the specific issues raised by my colleague are the focus of a police investigation. That is the appropriate way to deal with issues like this, as they arise.
We are obviously not going to comment on cases that are currently in the hands of the police. Everyone has a duty to exercise a degree of restraint in this regard as well.
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- Mar/21/24 3:08:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Iran shot down flight PS752, killing 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents, yet today, 700 IRGC terrorists still operate on Canadian soil, terrorizing Persian and Jewish communities. Five years after Parliament voted to ban the IRGC, the Prime Minister seems more concerned with punishing our democratic ally Israel, and rewarding Hamas terrorists, than going after the IRGC in Canada.
When will the Prime Minister finally stick up for Canadians and ban the IRGC?
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- Mar/21/24 3:08:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have said for many years now that Iran is one of the most important state sponsors of terrorist activity around the world.
The government has put in place a series of very robust sanctions and used immigration legislation to bar many of those people from visiting Canada. The security intelligence service and the Border Services Agency are obviously taking their responsibilities very seriously. The government continues to rely on the advice from security services with respect to listing terrorist entities.
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- Mar/21/24 3:09:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for far too long, indigenous stories have been told by others, often inaccurately and insensitively. As we continue our path to reconciliation, we must ensure that indigenous voices are empowered to share their own stories, and that indigenous cultures and languages are preserved and celebrated.
Could the Minister of Canadian Heritage provide an update on the work of the Indigenous Screen Office and the unique role it plays in the promotion of indigenous artists and producers?
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- Mar/21/24 3:09:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his advocacy. We all have a role to play to advance reconciliation, and this includes cultural reconciliation. Since we supported its creation in 2017, the Indigenous Screen Office has played a pivotal role in revitalizing indigenous cultures and bringing indigenous stories to our screens.
Last week, I was proud to announce that we have made this funding permanent, providing it with $65 million over five years and $13 million ongoing. This funding will support and promote the work of indigenous creators to share their rich and diverse cultures and languages for years to come.
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