44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2024 10:00AM
- 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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- Mar/21/24 3:10:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is panic among community-based health prevention groups that are working to limit the spread of HIV in Canada. On March 31, the Liberals let funding for HIV self-testing kits run out. Self-testing kits have quickly become a vital tool in limiting new infections and moving towards the eradication of HIV/AIDS. We know community-based distribution of test kits works. Frontline workers were hoping to see the funding double, rather than end.
Will the minister commit today to providing the funding needed to help eliminate HIV?
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- Mar/21/24 3:11:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for his advocacy for eradicating HIV/AIDS from our communities.
We know that a lot of work has been done to find solutions and to provide care for those with HIV/AIDS. Our government remains committed to supporting all those endeavours. The best way to do it is by working with communities. We will continue to support them.
I look forward to continuing to work with the member to see that support is always available for people living with HIV/AIDS.
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- Mar/21/24 3:11:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the so-called climate debate taking place in this place is the worst of all worlds.
It is unserious and profoundly unfunny. It is a grotesque display of ignorance of the science and a rejection of the solutions that are desperately needed. Our children and grandchildren will not forgive us for this display, but we still have a chance.
Will the Liberal government commit that, when we come back after Easter, we can convene as a committee of the whole to bring scientific experts to this place to educate all members, take questions and focus on facts?
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- Mar/21/24 3:12:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House believe in science, in science-based policy and in ensuring that the scientific reality of climate change is something that is acknowledged and incorporated into all of the work we are doing, whether it is on the environment or the economy.
It is certainly something that we share and agree on with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. We are interested in finding many ways to educate those in the House who continue to deny the reality of climate change.
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- Mar/21/24 3:13:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it being Thursday, we are in the middle of the carbon tax election debate, the Conservative motion for today, where we are urging the government to take this to the Canadian people. It believes that Canadians would prefer its plan to quadruple the tax. We believe Canadians will choose our plan to axe the tax, so I have a simple question for the government. If this motion passes today, will they do the right thing, dissolve Parliament and call a carbon tax election?
If they do not have the spine and intestinal fortitude to take this to the Canadian people, can the House leader tell us, when we come back after Easter, what business the House will be dealing with?
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Mr. Speaker, that member knows very well that he is about to stand up this evening to remove $376 that will be landing in the bank accounts of all of his constituents on April 16. He is going to vote against that, and if we go a little further outside his riding into the great prairie areas of Saskatchewan, they will get a 20% rural top-up in addition to that $376, so we will be very steadfast in supporting the policies of the government today and every day.
Tomorrow we will resume second reading debate of Bill C-38 concerning new registration requirements. When we return, and indeed we will return following the constituency weeks, we will call Bill C-61, an act respecting water, source water, drinking water, waste water and related infrastructure on first nation lands.
Tuesday, April 9, shall be an allotted day, and furthermore, as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance announced earlier this month, the budget will be presented on Tuesday, April 16. Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I request the designation of an order of the day for the budget presentation at 4:00 p.m. that day.
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- Mar/21/24 3:16:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if you were to seek it I believe you would find unanimous consent for the following motion:
That a take-note debate on softwood lumber be held on Monday, April 8, 2024, pursuant to Standing Order 53.1, and that, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House: (a) members wishing to speak during the debate may indicate to the Chair that they will be dividing their time with another member; (b) the time provided for the debate be extended beyond four hours, as needed, to include a minimum of 12 periods of 20 minutes each; and (c) no quorum calls, dilatory motions or requests for unanimous consent shall be received by the Chair
I wish all of my colleagues in the House a good week in their ridings.
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- Mar/21/24 3:16:23 p.m.
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All those opposed to the hon. minister moving the motion will please say nay.
It is agreed.
The House has heard the terms of the motion. All those opposed to the motion will please say nay.
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Mr. Speaker, I wanted to make a very brief intervention in response to the government House leader's parliamentary secretary's response to my question of privilege on Bill C-63 and the leak that occurred.
The parliamentary secretary's 25-minute submission extensively quoted the Internet. What it did not do, however, was explain exactly how the sources whom Travis Dhanraj and Rachel Aiello spoke to were lucky enough to state precisely which of the options the government consulted on would make it into the bill.
Had the reporting been based on the published consultation documents, the media reports would have said so, but they did not. They quoted “sources” who were “not authorized to speak publicly on the matter before the bill is tabled in Parliament.” The parliamentary secretary's implication that the sources were all stakeholders uninformed about the ways of Parliament is demonstrably untrue. CTV's source was “a senior government source”. The CBC attributed its article to “two sources, including one with the federal government”. Besides, had these sources actually all been stakeholders speaking about previous consultations, why would they have sought anonymity to begin with, let alone specify the need for anonymity, because the bill had not yet been introduced?
As I said back on February 26, the leakers knew what they were doing. They knew it was wrong, and they knew why it was wrong. We are not talking about general aspects of the bill that might have been shared with stakeholders during consultation processes. We are talking about very detailed information that was in the legislation and was leaked to the media before it was tabled in the House. That is the issue we are asking you to rule on, Mr. Speaker.
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- Mar/21/24 3:18:40 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for Regina—Qu'Appelle for his contribution to the consideration that the Chair will take up and come back to this House on at a later time.
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- Mar/21/24 3:19:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin my speech by thanking you and all of the members of the House of Commons for giving me a little bit of latitude as I give my last speech here in the House of Commons.
I want to start by thanking all the people in Elmwood—Transcona who have made my presence in the House of Commons possible over the last eight and a half years. I thank all the people who supported me coming here. I also want to thank all the people who shared feedback over the years, including, and perhaps especially, when they did not agree, at the least the constructive feedback. As members in this chamber know, we strive to get back to everyone as best we can, but even when we cannot, hearing from people and reading their letters help inform what we bring to the House of Commons. I have had the benefit of the wisdom of many people throughout my riding over the last eight and a half years and say a huge thanks to them.
I want to particularly thank my wife, Janelle, who is on Parliament Hill today for my final remarks. Her sacrifices, in order for me to be here, have been incredible. I would not have been able to serve the folks in Elmwood—Transcona without her hard work at home, making all this possible for me and for our family. I am very grateful to Janelle for all that work. She is deserving of applause and much more.
My sons, Robert and Noah, are here today, along with my mother Brenda. I thank them, for all the ways they have supported me, as well as my whole family, my sisters Rebecca, Jessica and Tessa, and my late father Bill, who was a great friend and mentor.
I have been fortunate over the years to have a great staff team. People here know that we cannot do this job without a lot of support in many different ways. I have been fortunate to have a lot of people work for me in various ways over the years. I would be remiss if I did not mention my two longest-serving staff members. Ariel worked with me here in Ottawa and at home in the riding organizationally, did a fantastic job and has moved on to bigger and better things. Paul, in my constituency office, anchored me there and helped mentor many new staff members in that office.
It has been a real honour to serve in this place with a wonderful NDP caucus. I could spend a lot of time talking about all the ways the members of this caucus have improved my own thinking on a lot of issues and have supported me through challenging political and personal endeavours. I am going to give one quick shout-out to the member for North Island—Powell River because she has been a really amazing whip. People ought to know that the whip is not always a bad thing, and this particular whip has carried herself in a way that has been very important to me and to our entire caucus.
I am also proud to have served under a leader, the member for Burnaby South, who has been relentless in putting the needs and the interests of people first. He has been focused on the needs of working people who, more and more, go to work every day and feel that they are falling further behind when they should be getting ahead. He has been focused on the needs of seniors who worked their whole lives and find that their pensions can no longer sustain them. He has been dedicated to the needs of people who, for many different reasons, are not able to work and, nevertheless, deserve to live in dignity and security. In a country like Canada, we should be able to do that for them.
I say that not just for something to say, but because there is a list of achievements we can point to over the last four or so years that the NDP has played a critical part in the driving through the House. I think of helping people and small businesses through the challenges of the pandemic. I think of the incredible expansion of child care that we are witnessing across Canada. I think of dental services being made available for millions of Canadians for the first time. I think of access to prescription drugs, particularly diabetes medication and contraceptives that are going to be available across the country.
I think of workers' rights; they are now getting 10 paid sick days, which is a first, and there is anti-scab legislation moving through Parliament now. There are the conditions on investment tax credits for the new energy economy that are going to require that union prevailing wages are paid to workers and that apprentices are hired in those jobs so that investment in the new energy economy does not leave workers behind.
I think of the times we forced the government to double the GST rebate as a way to help people who needed it in a time of incredible inflation, without making the mistake of contributing even more to inflation.
I think of the advocacy for indigenous right and title that the NDP caucus has done in this place and of the over $8 billion for indigenous housing that we have helped to secure. I think of my colleague from Winnipeg Centre, who has been pioneering the red dress initiative.
I think of the work we have done to advocate for a swift implementation of the Canada disability benefit, and we have called for, finally, employment insurance reform that will do justice to workers. We know it is possible. We saw movement in the pandemic, but we need it to happen now, even as we look to the future with things like a guaranteed livable basic income in order to make it easier for all Canadians to live with dignity.
We have been refusing to let the Prime Minister's cynicism about electoral reform end the conversation about proportional representation and about changing the voting system here on Parliament Hill. I am proud to have been part of the efforts to keep that conversation alive.
We pushed to take back some of the excess profits the banks and insurance companies made during the pandemic and to permanently raise their corporate tax rate from 15% to 16.5%.
We have been adamant about holding big CEOs to account for the role that outsized corporate profits have played in contributing to inflation, something we just do not hear enough talk about in this place, unless New Democrats are on their feet.
There is more to that list, but I am conscious of the time. I am optimistic, hopeful and confident that the next member for Elmwood—Transcona will have much more to say and to do on important issues like those.
To my mind, the common thread that moves through all these various issues is not just a desire, but also a moral imperative to empower every person to take command of their own destiny and to do so in full recognition of the extent to which we are all interconnected. I say this because I am sometimes tempted by the fantasy of going out in the wilderness and living a quiet life. Perhaps that is a viable and attractive option for some, but for most of us, economic imperatives, technology and the inescapable impacts of climate change push us toward each other and require that we practise our independence in a space negotiated with others. That is why I believe the proper exercise of individual freedom, if everyone is to enjoy it, is fundamentally a co-operative and not a competitive project.
Competition has its place in the economy, just as it does in politics, but if we lose sight of the fundamentally co-operative project, our competitive instincts can often do more harm than good. It is not a new insight; it has animated our political movement from the beginning. It is at the core of the unique Canadian brand of Prairie democratic socialism, pioneered by renowned Canadian political leaders like J. S. Woodsworth and Tommy Douglas, which I count myself proud to be a part of.
Often, when we talk about freedom, the conversation revolves around questions about government. These are appropriate debates. Government intervention can go wrong, and sometimes it is exactly the wrong solution to a problem. However, there are other times when it is either the best or the only solution. Reasonable people can disagree about what extent of government involvement is appropriate in a particular circumstance, but Canadian social democrats have always been aware that power does not just reside in government. It resides in the many places and ways that people relate to each other, and some of those most important relationships are economic ones. When people lack economic security, they lose the power to dictate the course of their lives. One can be entitled to all the freedoms one wants on paper, but without economic power, a person cannot exercise those freedoms.
That is why New Democrats are concerned with holding not only the governments to account, but also holding the CEOs and lobbyists, who wield immense economic power, to account as well. It is why we believe it is so important that governments and investors respect indigenous right and title, and that indigenous peoples are empowered to manage their own affairs. It is why we are concerned to root out systemic racism, gender discrimination, homophobia and ableism from our institutions. It is why we say no to allowing a small corporate elite to sacrifice the health of the planet in the name of their own short-term gain. When we fail at these things, we take away power from some people to determine their own future so that others have more power to pursue preferences that trespass on the freedom and dignity of others.
We believe that by respecting the rights and freedoms of others, in all their diversity, we can negotiate a better future for everyone. We do not pretend it is easy work, and we recognize that it would mean asking some of the wealthiest among us to moderate their expectations of luxury and indulgence, but it is by no means asking them to live a bad life.
Our current system asks many people to live in poverty and hunger so that a small few can live in lavish luxury. The fact that this has long been the case, does not make it right. The extent to which that system persists is a testament to the real power that exists outside of the democratic system, but by working together, we can use the democratic system to tame it and to ensure that everyone gets a fair share.
Our emphasis on economic democracy is why New Democrats support strong collective bargaining, the credit union movement, indigenous right and title, co-operatives of all kinds, publicly-owned corporations for some things and strong regulations in private markets that tend toward corporate oligopoly, as well as other tools to make sure that small groups of people beyond democratic control do not get to dictate how most people earn a living or access essential goods and services.
There are many ways to go about things, and Parliament is a place where people come to debate those. Yes, it is a place where people come not only to disagree, to be sure, but also to find a path forward that unites us. It is why we cannot understand the role of parliamentary opposition as just to oppose for the sake of opposing.
I hope that in my time here as part of a team that has been dedicated to the interests of people, we have shown how one can do the good work of opposition in holding people in power to account, while nevertheless going out of one's way to find those places where one can collaborate and can make progress on the things that matter to people, even as one disagrees about other important things.
I thank the Speaker, once again, for a little bit of latitude, both in terms of subject and time, to put those final remarks on the record.
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- Mar/21/24 3:31:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I was not aware, until today, that the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona would be giving his farewell address. I just have a few comments, as others will, but I really just want to very sincerely thank him for the incredible service to the House and to his community.
I am a fellow Transconan, born and raised in Winnipeg but with most of my formative years in Transcona. I lived right across the street from his grandfather. Literally, I could look in their side window. I did not, but I could have.
Of course, I knew his father very well and often shared a plane ride or two with him. I can tell members that he was so proud of his son and the great parliamentarian that he had become in just a few short years. I was a classmate of his uncle, so I was intimately connected with his family, a great Transcona family who was very much beloved, as the hon. member is now.
The place we come from, a working-class suburb, a railway town, really, I think the hon. member would agree, made us very sensitive to the needs of working people and to the aspirations of the middle class. I still call Transcona home.
I am not going to go on. I just want to, again, thank the member for his contribution to the House, to my province and to our country. He is an intelligent, thoughtful and always well-prepared member of the House. I wish him well. I know his service will continue for the country but, very importantly, for the province we both love, Manitoba.
I wish the hon. member well.
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